YuGiOh ZeXal: Breakthrough
by OverLimit
Summary: A new year at Delta Academy in the city of Heartland is about to start. Yuushi Sakudo is one of the students on his way about to be challenged with the trials of the year ahead of him.
1. Chapter 1: Myth and Legend

**These are just some really quick notes about this fanfic (Please Read)**

I don't own Yugioh Zexal

I know sometimes people like to submit Original Characters but I request that you please don't. The reason behind this is because I am relatively new to writing and I would rather not mess up something that someone else put work into. Deck ideas however, I am willing to accept in the comments section and will credit if I use them.

There will be cards I make up but I will put a section at the end of each chapter for made up cards that debut. Every other card you can look up to see its effects

All types of summons allowed. So fusion, ritual, synchro, XYZ, etc are all fair game

Story takes place at about the same time as Yugioh Zexal when the Numbers appear

"Staples" will be relatively rare. Staples include cards like BTH, Mirror Force, Dimensional Prison, Heavy Storm, Raigeki, Dark Hole, Dark Strike Fighter, Goyo Guardian, etc. The reason behind this is that it's more interesting to write when people have more unique cards to them and that duels don't turn into Mirror Force, Dimension Prison, BTH battles. However, if a character runs an Ice Barrier deck, that person having Brionac is not out of the question.

Cards that are character-bound will be arguably rarer that the staples. This is just for the sake of the story. Thus not everyone will be pulling out Stardust Dragons, Shooting Star Dragons, Black Rose Dragons, Neos, Cyber Darks, Arcana, Dark Magician, Blue Eyes, Rainbow Dragon, Planets, Toons, etc.

**Any comments, feedback, etc, please post whether good or bad**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Myth and Legend<strong>

"_The city of Heartland, considered one of the most beautiful and advanced cities of our time. There are plenty of districts, busy roads, lights, businesses, an example of a busy city. There is however something that all these people have in common, something that has evolved throughout eras and generations. Something that is even found in not only academies around Heartland but also throughout the world...this phenomenon is known as Duel Monsters. Lives have been affected and..."_

As a boy flipped the page of the textbook he had been reading, he finished up a drink of orange juice as he put down the book and leaned back gazing out at the sunlight coming through the kitchen window. He wanted to continue reading but before that, a female voice from his mother interrupted him.

"You'd better hurry, Yuushi! Your father's waiting outside and he's in a hurry. It's a big day for both of you. Oh, my boy's reached the age where he goes to high school!"

Yuushi's mother gave him a slightly embarrassing hug but he hugged her back, took up his backpack with all his day' materials, put on his running shoes and headed out the door where a blue car was waiting for him with a man in a lab coat inside ready to drive.

"Hey, you ready?", the man in the lab coat said as Yuushi jumped into the car. "Oh that's right, we have to pick up your friend Ayumi, right?", the man remembered.

"Dad, you know I can just take a monorail to Delta Academy right? I mean...," Yuushi muttered as he realized that this was probably the only day his dad would drive him to school for a while. With that he sat comfortably and enjoyed the ride.

The car started up and they were on their way to Ayumi's house. Out the window, were a few robots picking up garbage and sweeping the streets while wandering around. They had faces on them and a chubby build and while Yuushi appreciated what they do, their "Cleaning! Cleaning!" gets annoying if endured for long enough.

His dad looked in the car's mirror and to see Yuushi staring out the window as he continued talking, "You know I'll be busy this year with my job. I heard that dueling has reached even more people than last year and so I have to do research on new technological advances for the city, duel disk technology and program analysis. So I figured I'd see you and your friend off at least."

With a nod, Yuushi didn't like it but he figured that being a scientist was hard work. He wasn't sure what exactly his dad was talking about but he sounded like a busy individual and it's not like he would be bored himself. There was plenty of reading to do and a world of mystery out there and now a new school year to keep him occupied. Maybe Ayumi would know what his dad was talking about specifically as the car approached a large gated three-story house with a tree in the back. At the front of the entrance gate was a dark brown haired girl wearing a white and purple school uniform and purple skirt. The car stopped in front as the girl opened the door and got into the car beside Yuushi.

With a bit of excitement, the girl sat down and asked Yuushi a quick question, "Hey, you ready? Can't believe we're going to the same school now."

The boy looked at the girl who seemed to be waiting for an answer. "Yeah, you told me already, Ayumi. But you're right, I am a bit excited to see what Delta Academy has to offer."

"There you go. See, you're excited too," Ayumi said as she started to look up at Yuushi's father now. "Hey, Mr. Sakudo. How have you been?"

The man answered back, "Oh, just fine. Thanks for asking."

The car drove off as Ayumi was looking up something on her D-Pad as suddenly she started to say something to Yuushi. "Hey, it says here that Delta Academy has great opportunities for not only academies but also for duelists."

Hearing the word 'duelist', Yuushi pulled out his deck and had a quick look through his deck just to make sure everything was in there. While sorting through, he sensed near his shoulder that someone was looking over and sure enough Ayumi was peeking over to see the cards that Yuushi had on him. He felt a bit awkward as he stopped flipping through his cards but Ayumi kept looking.

"Umm...got any questions?", he asked hoping that this would get her to say something.

"Oh, nothing. I was just curious. I know we're probably going to have to duel a lot in class and stuff so I was just wondering what your deck was like and what's your favorite card?", the girl said with interest.

"Well, I know I saw it somewhere...", the boy said while going through his cards again until he reached a card with a white background. The card image showed a blue armored magician with a large horned blue helmet made of the same material as the armor. In his hands was a dark green staff with a green orb at the tip while in the background was a magical green circle. "Here, it's this card, the Synchro Monster known as Arcanite Magician", said Yuushi with a bit of pride in his voice.

While the two were looking, Yuushi's father interrupted them. "That's a powerful card and all but...you remember what you promised me right?"

Yuushi closed his eyes in a bit of disappointment and he responded back, "I know, I know. I won't use this card."

Ayumi was a bit surprised that Yuushi wasn't going to use his favorite card. However, she didn't feel it was right for her to question why so she just retreated back to her spot in silence as the man driving started to say something else. "Ayumi, would you like to hear a story?"

The girl was further confused but now intrigued as Yuushi suddenly interrupted. "Let me tell it, I mean she is my friend so well, yeah."

His father nodded as Yuushi continued on, "Ayumi, do you know about some strange occurrences that happen to Duel Monsters every once in a while?"

Surprisingly, she answered back relatively fast, "Yeah, I've heard a thing or two about a few rumors. But nothing about this Arcanite Magician card."

With a chuckle the scientist continued, "Well, if you did I might have to ask some questions on it. Our database has no record of Arcanite Magician and any sources I've talked to haven't heard a thing about it."

"So how did you get it?", Ayumi replied while looking at the Synchro Monster.

"I'm not exactly sure what happened but it was probably about two years ago. My mom took us on a family camping trip because she said we spend too much time sitting around staring at books or at computers and that we needed to get up and move around. We went out of town, about a hour and a half drive to the outskirts of Heartland in order to see a solar eclipse. My parents started to cook some food so I just wandered around. I reached a river and just looked around. It was a bit cold and windy as I started into the river when suddenly, the river got brighter as I looked up and saw what appeared to be a glowing meteor in the sky.", Yuushi remembered at he stared at the card

"Well, I was probably at home during that solar eclipse," the girl mentioned but Yuushi was a bit lost in thought at that moment.

Continuing on, he said, "The light from the meteor was, well, beautiful. Everything around me started to radiate from that light when I suddenly noticed that the brightness was getting more intense and covering everything around me. Suddenly, with a huge crash, a light shot out of the meteor and landed behind me causing an explosion leaving behind smoke and a huge hole in the ground. I figured something fell from the sky and in the crater and as I turned around, I noticed a chunk of rock made of some sort of mineral."

With a sharp left turn, Yuushi's father interrupted, "That was when your mom and I noticed the explosion and went to check on you and as we arrived, we noticed that the rock had been split in two and Yuushi was holding a glowing card. The light faded and that Arcanite Magician was the card left behind. We all had never seen that card and so I went to analyze it at many labs and no matter what I did, all the results came back the same...it was a perfectly normal card that nobody had heard of. Even the sample of the mineral I gathered came up inconclusive."

Ayumi stared at the two with silence as Yuushi chuckled a bit and finished his part of the story, "That was the condensed version but I don't blame you if you don't believe us but..."

"No, I do. Well, it's a bit strange, but you do have that card in front of you right? A card that nobody's heard of. If that's not proof that something happened at least...then I don't know what is. Still, why can't you use that card? I mean, that would surprise a lot of people if there was a card being used that nobody heard of," Ayumi finished while noticing that they were almost at Delta now.

The car reached their destination as they reached the gate of large three-story dark brown school with the sign 'Delta Academy' in red by the gate. A few students were already running in and inside the gates were a few other blue buildings branching off the main one with a large field in the center and an open space in the back.

Yuushi's father looked and the two and answered Ayumi's question. "Well, before he starts playing that card in public, I'd really like to know where it came from and if it's dangerous. I know the scans say it's a normal card but if it were normal, why did it crash down from a meteor and glow like that. I'm sorry Yuushi, it's a good card and all but please don't play it."

With a shuffle, Yuushi hid the card in his extra deck as the two students got out of the car as he nodded to his father. The last thing Yuushi saw was a slight smile from his dad before he took off.

The two of them entered the gate looking for their classroom. Room 1-D was written on a scrap piece of paper that Yuushi pulled out of his pocket. They went up a few stairs outside and reached the front door and opened it. They saw various lockers and rooms scattered all over with a few students chattering down the hall and even some students like him looking for their classroom. Since Ayumi asked a bit about his deck, Yuushi felt it was a bit fair that she should give a bit of information about her dueling style. Being friends in different schools is one thing but now that they're even in the same class, being classmates is another thing entirely.

"So you know about Arcanite Magician but what sort of deck are you planning to use?", asked Yuushi with his own hint of curiosity.

"My deck...," wondered Ayumi as the two stopped for a bit. She rolled her eyes a bit and answered back, "Well, I'll use whatever cards I have on me."

"What?", said the boy while really wondering what her deck was. "Come on, I told you about my deck, so what about yours? Please?"

"I'm serious. I have a deck and then when I feel like it, I just use a different deck so I guess my deck is whatever I have on me, like I said earlier"

Yuushi still didn't want to believe that but Ayumi sounded like she really wasn't kidding around. "That's strange, if you don't use a deck for that long, how will you get better at dueling? Watching is one thing but dueling a bunch of people and learning off that is another. There are a lot of duelists and each have their own strategies and playstyles"

"Yeah, I know but...I just feel like it, alright!", Ayumi answered back with a slight tone of annoyance.

They reached Classroom 1-D and noticed that every desk was grey with two blue chairs meant to seat two people. At the front of the classroom was a grey board for writing but also a digital screen for the teacher to put up their notes and project to the students' D-Pads for the whole class to see. A few minutes later, Yuushi and Ayumi sat down at the back row in near the center as every other student sat down in their own desks as well. The teacher entered the room as well but he didn't sit down but rather wrote something on the board and started to talk as the class quieted down. Looking at the man, he seemed a bit chubby wearing a bright yellow sweater and blue pants

"Alright, class. As you can see on the board, my name is Mr. Yamazaki. I will be your homeroom teacher for this year. Normally, as a sort of tradition at Delta Academy, the first day of the school year is spent between everyone in the class getting to know each other through a duel," said Mr. Yamazaki while waiting for the chatter and excitement to fade.

"That's what I'm talking about! Who or what wants to duel me!", a dark blue-black haired boy stood up and pumped his fist in the air while looking around for an opponent.

"I like that excitement and I would let you find an opponent but there's a few changes this year. First of all, unique to this year, there will be an opening ceremony. Secondly, since there's a new card shop on the school grounds, every class will be going one a time to the card shop to prepare for the tradition I was talking about. People get excited like you over there all the time so we figured we should prepare you for not only the tradition but at least get a headstart for the school year. Luckily for you all that yours truly, Mr. Yamazaki, got the best draw and our class will be headed to the card shop right after the opening ceremony. Now we just have to wait for the bell...," the teacher stopped mid-sentence and looked around and scouted out his students.

A few moments afterwards, over the speakers, another loud bell was heard as Mr. Yamazaki and the rest of the teachers led their students over to a huge auditorium room. The room was full of people as another slightly elderly man was on the stage on a podium while again, everyone quieted down.

The principal cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone, "Greetings. I am Principal Tsubasa, the head of Delta Academy. Welcome new and returning students to a new year at here! I know many of you are excited today for the tradition and the opening of our new card shop!"

Once he said the words 'dueling' and 'card shop', the crowd got lively as they chattered about all sort of things related to dueling. Rather than try to quiet them down, a student on stage as well just looked at Principal Tsubasa as they both gave a nod to each other signalling that the ceremony should just continue on.

"I can barely hear myself. What about you, Yuushi?," Ayumi said with a loud voice trying to get his attention. Yuushi didn't even turn his head as Ayumi poked him on the shoulder a few times

"What?", Yuushi said while moving his head closer. All he saw was her mouth moving but the sound was chatter of everyone else in the room.

Like an echo, the girl responded a bit louder, "What?"

Yuushi looked confused and gave a puzzled look on his face before the principal continued his speech as the students were silent again. "I would just like to address a rumor that has been going on, mostly for the upper year students. As you may have heard, it is true, Reiji Sikiri, one of our top students, has been chosen by the overseas program in order to be a student at various cities around the world! And he's here right now to give a farewell speech to his fellow students."

The principal clapped as a few students started clapping but others started to talk about Reiji. From what Yuushi gathered from the people around him, Reiji is the best duelist at Delta and his father is a company big shot related to Duel Monsters. This trip was actually a guise for Reiji to travel the world to help his father with whatever company he was related to. However, officially, he was considered to be on a trip but the students at Delta thought otherwise.

"_Rumors sure spread fast. But still, travelling the world like that on a Duel Monsters trip...that would be something I'd like to do one day_," thought Yuushi while an older dark blue haired boy stood at the podium now with the principal taking a nearby seat.

"Fellow students. I know you don't want to hear some speech about how great I am and all that garbage. So for the sake of simplicity and speed, I'll make sure you remember this speech. Do not think that I'm just taking a trip for fun. Like you at school, I will be learning how to improve myself except I will be going to see the world while you will be in a school environment. And I promise you now, I'll take any challenge when I return and that I will be stronger than I ever was. Just don't make it too easy when I come back. I only wish I could be in this dueling tradition but I have to prepare. Though...I want to see the people who will crawl to the top where I'll be waiting!", Reiji challenged everyone but he not only left the podium but also the room while pointing to the sky with all eyes on him.

Not even waiting for his applause before leaving, even Principal Tsubasa was a bit shocked at the hurry he was in and the speech he gave.

"_He sure is confident in himself,"_ Ayumi thought to herself which slightly clenching her fist.

The principal continued on but the crowd was riled up by Reiji's challenge, "This year seems to be full of spirit. Alright then, like Reiji said, I'll make this fast and simple, your classes will have the traditional duel day. Today, the students in each class will duel each other in order to improve social unity and hopefully form new friends and bonds in this process. Also, you'll each have a chance to stop by the new card shop on school grounds to prepare for today's duel. And with that...thank you all for your time and attention".

With that Principal Tsubasa bowed to everyone and walked off to the sound of a thunderous applause as people were getting up in a somewhat orderly fashion back to their classes or in Class 1-D's case, to the new card shop.

Yuushi and Ayumi entered the shop along with everyone else in the class. The first noticeable thing was the lit-up sign 'Delta Shop' as there were a few chairs and tables incase anyone wanted to duel after class or just meet up. There was a display of the more powerful cards that people could purchase which was restocked daily and a bunch of booster packs, structure decks, boxes, etc of Duel Monsters cards. At the counter was a female looking at cards on a monitor with a male restocking cards and another woman with shining green earrings at the door welcoming everyone. By the counter, there were a few cards that Yuushi looked at for an instant before looking around a bit more. He saw the Effect Monsters Guardian Angel Joan and The Creator, the Trap Card Solemn Warning, the Ritual Spell Doriado's Blessing, the Synchro Monster Ally of Justice Catastor and the XYZ Monster Shine Elf. The cards themselves weren't too impressive for his deck and there was not any card in the shop that was too rare. Still, it was a good place to start for sure though since people could trade, gather and have fun which was something he could not deny about the place.

"I'd like a booster pack please!", a loud voice could be heard. It was from that dark blue-black haired boy who was extremely eager to start a duel at class. The boy opened the pack quick enough and sorted through the cards. With a bit of a grin, he put a card into a separate holder and the others went into his pocket. "Not bad, not bad," he said but walked into Yuushi who was talking with Ayumi.

Yuushi turned around and saw the individual who was slightly taller than himself while Ayumi wandered off in the shop afterwards.

"Sorry about that," said the noisy classmate.

"You sure are loud," responded Yuushi while Ayumi looked at both of them at a distance.

"Hey, I did get something a bit better than usual. I'll add it to my deck later so of course I'm a bit excited," he answered back.

The classmate extended his hand as Yuushi didn't know what to do now. "Oh, that's right, I never introduced myself," the boy said. He pointed to himself and continued his introduction, "The name's Hikaru Aoki."

"Yuushi Sakudo," was Yuushi's response as he shook Hikaru's hand.

With a grin, Hikaru looked on, "So what about it? You want to duel me today when we get back then? I promise it'll be a blast."

A challenged was directed at Yuushi. _"Well, I don't know this guy but he seems nice enough. Besides, yeah, I want to start things off right for my first day here and what better way than a duel with a classmate."_

With a look, Yuushi nodded, "You want to duel? Alright, I accept."

"Person of few words? No problem, no problem, I can already tell that you have a good head on your shoulders. Just don't lose it after you get blown away by my deck". With that Hikaru went off on his own around the shop as well

Ayumi was still looking around the card shop on her own and seeing all the lights and computers, she couldn't help just using one to browse a card, or two, or maybe twenty. The touch pad screen was nicer than her D-Pad's screen. _"Hmm, maybe I need to tune up D-Gazer and then my D-Pad when I get back to my house. I did it last week, but still..."_, she thought while everyone else was talking.

Though Yuushi did not end up getting any cards and neither did too many of his classmates, the fiery spirit of that boy spread to him as he knew that when returned to the class, he would need to duel.

Mr. Yamazaki meanwhile was looking at the time on his own D-Pad as he realized that their class's time at the duel shop was going to end soon. "Alright, I know everyone's excited and all but if you'll just follow me back, you can all unleash that excitement in a duel!"

The class followed their teacher back to Classroom 1-D as a few people sat down except Mr. Yamazaki again who just took a sigh and a last look around before he sat down in his chair.

"Then the time has come...students, I personally welcome you to the start of a new beginning. So, with that, let's duel!"

Just as if a traffic light turned green, the students went from sitting to scrambling as Ayumi went to Yuushi first.

"Hey, you want to...," she said when suddenly Hikaru appeared and tapped Yuushi on the shoulder from behind until he turned around though Ayumi was a bit annoyed. "Hey! We were talking you know."

Hikaru pulled out his deck, slammed it into his D-Pad and flipped open a D-Gazer that acted like an eyepiece. "Sorry about that but I overheard your conversation. You wanted to duel Yuushi but he already promised me a match at the card shop so first come, first serve and dang it, I was first!"

Her arms were crossed in a bit of annoyance but she said to Yuushi, "Is that true? Well I guess if you did, you should duel him..."

Setting up his own D-Pad and deck and turning adjusting his glasses for Augmented Reality (AR) Vision, Yuushi replied, "Yeah, I did. Look, we can duel when we want right? Besides, I want to see what people from all over have to offer."

Yuushi walked a distance away from Hikaru with Ayumi as a spectator between the two with her own D-Gazer on her eye like Hikaru as she noticed that the two boys were one of the first people to start a duel in the class.

"Duel!", both combatants yelled while drawing five cards a piece.

Yuushi- 4000 LP

Hikaru- 4000 LP

Looking at his hand, Yuushi was relatively happy with what he drew when a voice broke his train of thought. "Hey, you want to go first?", Hikaru shouted out.

"Alright, fine!", Yuushi said while drawing another card and thinking about his plan. _"I could use this spell card and this monster but this card is better off facedown since it probably won't win me the duel."_ He decided to put his monster facedown as it had decent defense points. "I'll start this off pretty simple. Since it's the first turn of a duel and so I can't attack...just one face-down monster in defence mode and I'll end my turn". With that a card laid horizontally was materialized on the field in front of Yuushi.

"You know why I let you go first...I like to attack first!", said Hikaru enthusiastically as he drew a card and looked through his hand. "First I''ll warm up with Molten Transmission Field. When I activate this spell, I send two Laval Monsters from my deck to the graveyard. Laval Cannoneer and Laval Coatl."

After sending the two cards to the grave, Yuushi looked on. "_If he played a Spell Card like that, he's probably going to do something this turn"_

"Now, since I have a Fire Attribute Monster like Laval Coatl in my graveyard, I'm going to remove it from play to special summon Spirit of Flames (ATK: 1700, Level 4) in attack mode."

With that a molten humanoid erupted out of the ground with a roar. "I don't know what that card is facedown but I need I'll need more firepower! Now I sacrifice my Spirit of Flames in order to tribute summon Laval Lancelord (ATK: 2100, Level 6). As Spirit of Flames disappeared in a light, the smoke left behind triggered an explosion with a large stone humanoid holding a flaming spear stared down at the facedown Yuushi had on his field.

"_To get a higher monster level out using tribute summoning means he had to sacrifice a monster on his field. It's a bit costly but the card that's left is usually a strong monster," _Ayumi realized while watching the humanoid monster.

"Attack that facedown card!", Hikaru commanded as the Lancelord threw his spear with a powerful thrust as Yuushi's library monster (DEF: 2000) was impaled and destroyed.

"One card facedown and it's your turn then"

Yuushi drew his card and looked at it before thinking a moment and moving on. "I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (ATK: 1600, Level 4)". From a summoning circle, a red armored mage-knight with a shield and sword appeared as suddenly he glowed red, indicating an increase in power (Breaker ATK: 1900 1 Spell Counter (SC)). "Since I normal summoned him successfully, he gains a Spell Counter which increases his attack by 300 but that won't be around for much longer since I'm wary of that facedown card. I'll use Breaker's ability to remove his own Spell Counter but then I can destroy a Spell or Trap card on the field, so let's get rid of your only facedown."

Breaker's sword radiated a red light (Breaker 1600 ATK) as it shot out a red beam destroying the face down card revealed to be a trap.

"Next I play the Continuous Spell, Solidarity. Since I have a Spellcaster, namely Royal Magical Library, in the graveyard, any Spellcaster gains 800 ATK as long as Spellcasters are the only type of monster in my graveyard."

The card gave out a green glow as it infused Breaker with its power (Breaker 1600+800=2400 ATK). "Now its time to take out that spear thrower. Breaker, move in for the attack!", as the mage-knight charged up a magical blast and shot it out from its sword destroying Laval Lancelord.

Yuushi- 4000 LP

Hikaru- 3700 LP

"Alright then. That was good but Laval Lancelord still has something up his sleeve. His spirit ignites his comrades so much that when Laval Lancelord is on the field and destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can target a removed from play fire monster and add it to my hand. Well, looks like Laval Coatl from earlier joins my team again". Laval Coatl from Hikaru's Remove From Play Area flies out and he adds it to his hand.

"Then I'll play one card facedown and end it there", Yuushi said.

"Draw!", said the other boy enthusiastically. "I summon Laval Gunner (ATK: 1200, Level 4). I activate this card's ability. When this card is normal summoned, and I have a Laval monster in my graveyard that's not Laval Gunner, I can send the top five cards of my deck to the graveyard. And let's see..."

Hikaru drew five cards and sent them all to the graveyard. Statue of the Wicked, Offerings to the Doomed, Laval Coatl, Laval Lancelord and Spirit of Flames were sent to the graveyard.

"Now let's turn up the heat on this duel. Since Laval Gunner's effect sent two Laval monsters to the graveyard, his attack increases by 200 for each one (Laval Gunner 1200+200+200=1600 ATK) Now that I have three different Laval monsters in the graveyard, Cannoneer, Coatl and Lancelord, I can special summon both these cards from my hand, the card I got from Laval Lancelord earlier, a second Laval Coatl which is a tuner (ATK: 1300, Level 2 Tuner) and Laval Burner (ATK: 2100, Level 5)"

A small flaming winged creature and a much larger rock creature with flaming hair and glowing red fists appeared. The word 'Tuner' in Yuushi's head meant one thing that he exclaimed to his opponent, "You're planning to Synchro Summon then?"

"You betcha. I tune my Laval Coatl with my Laval Burner". Laval Coatl turned into two green rings in the air as Laval Burner jumped through them turning into five white lights before a green light enveloped them. "In the molten volcano, a roar which cannot be silenced! Flames which swell in the heart of fire! Synchro Summon! Laval Stannon!". The light faded but in its place, an even larger black golem with some armor, gauntlets and a hand cannon surfaced from the ground with a fiery roar. (ATK: 2700, Level 7)

The roar attracted a few classmates in the room who watched as a Synchro Monster surfaced. The blue-black haired boy however sent a card from his hand to the graveyard as he explained his actions. "When Laval Stannon is Synchro Summoned, I have to send a card from my hand to the graveyard but that's fine by me."

"Now things are getting exciting", one classmate said

A nearby girl agreed, "Yeah but that glasses guy is in trouble now."

Yuushi was taken a bit aback by this monster as Hikaru smiled and pointed his finger to the sky. "Like Reiji said, I'm going to crawl to the top and be number one! Laval Stannon, attack Breaker with Molten Cannon!" The cannon on the monster shot out a stream of lava at Breaker the Magical Warrior as it tried to defend with its shield but the lava melted it along with him sending the monster to the graveyard. The virtual lava continued and hit Yuushi causing him to see everything in a shade of red

Yuushi- 3700 LP

Hikaru- 3700 LP

Since his hands were covering his eyes, he wasn't ready for Laval Gunner. "Laval Gunner, attack directly!" The other monster raised its gun and fired off a few fireballs at Yuushi causing an explosion of smoke as he shielded himself.

Yuushi- 2100 LP

Hikaru- 3700 LP

"I end my turn with that super charged attack! Now since my turn ended, Laval Gunner returns to its original attack (Laval Gunner 1200 ATK)."

Seeing no monsters on Yuushi's field, Ayumi wondered if he would try to summon Arcanite Magician despite his father's words. That card would certainly be able to help right now but Laval Stannon had another effect that she knew about. She hoped that Yuushi knew about it too, _"Laval Stannon is not only tough to beat with 2700 ATK but if it's targeted by a card effect, it can negate then destroy that card by removing a Laval monster from the grave. Hikaru has at least a few since he sent a bunch of Laval monsters to the grave earlier."._

"You're pretty good, Hikaru...," Yuushi said while staring at the large Synchro Monster in front of him. "But I've still got a few tricks in this deck."

Hikaru looked back as he nodded, "Of course. But I sure hope this trick of yours isn't just hot air!"

"I hope so too", Yuushi muttered to himself while looking at his deck and hand. He knew that he did have a few cards to at least hold out a bit. Still, without any monsters on the field, he knew he needed something to protect himself at least as the roar of Laval Stannon reminded him that he was still facing two monsters to his none on the field.

From his deck, Yuushi drew a card and looked at it, it was a field spell. _"With this, I'll show him a trick or two and keep my promise to my dad. Here I go!"_

* * *

><p><strong>Preview Chapter 2<strong>

Hikaru: "How do you like that? The passion, the speed. This is a duel!

Ayumi: "But there's more to it than that. Just don't disappoint me Yuushi, I haven't seen you duel in a while."

Yuushi: "Yeah I know. But you're both right, there's more to duels than what's on the field."

Ayumi: "So what made you interested in Duel Monsters in the first place?"

Yuushi: "I think you already have a guess. Next time, Chapter 2: The Master Magician."

Hikaru: "I'd rather you show it to me than guess."


	2. Chapter 2: The Master Magician

**Chapter 2: The Master Magician**

The only cards on Yuushi's field right now were his facedown and the Continuous Spell, Solidarity with its effect still in play but the card he just drew would change the course of this duel, or at least the field. A separate slot opened up on Yuushi's D-Pad as he put the card in. "I play the Field Spell, Magical Citadel of Endymion", he announced as the whole battlefield started to shake. The area was changed to that of a huge citadel as large as a city surrounded by a magical barrier with four pillars and a huge tower in the center. All over the citadel were magical drawings and glyphs as the citadel was then surrounded by a forest. Hikaru, Ayumi and a few others watched in awe at this massive structure coming out.

Hikaru was still amazed even as the quaking stopped as he couldn't hold his excitement any longer. "Wow! Amazing, I've never seen this card before! Guess you did have something left."

"I activate the Spell Card, Spell Power Grasp." On the tower of the citadel, a few markings lit up as a light from the card shot into it. "Spell Power Grasp lets me add a Spell Counter to an applicable card (Citadel SC: 1)." As he finished his sentence, Yuushi's tower lit up again as a more complete marking was shown now. "In addition, the Citadel's effect triggers. Every time a player uses any magic card, it gains another Spell Counter. (Citadel SC: 2)" Yuushi smiled slightly not because of his field spell but because his opponent's passion stirred his spirits up as he announced his next move.

The light from Spell Power Grasp bounced off the citadel back to Yuushi's deck. "Spell Power Grasp has the additional effect that let's me add another Spell Power Grasp Spell Card from my deck to my hand but I can only use this spell once per turn."

"I summon Alchemist of Black Spells in attack mode and since only Spellcaster monsters are in my graveyard again, Solidarity gives this card an attack boost (ABS: 1200+800= 2000 ATK, Level 4). Take out Laval Gunner!" The magician in dark-purple and gold thrusted an open palm forward releasing a black sphere that collided with Laval Gunner destroying it.

Yuushi- 2100 LP

Hikaru- 2900 LP

"Since I can't attack during my second main phase, I'll use Alchemist of Black Spell's special ability which lets me switch it from attack to defence mode while also adding a Spell Counter to a card of my choice, like my field spell."

The Alchemist put out a barrier around himself indicating a defensive position (DEF: 2000) as the glyph on the citadel started to become more clear (Citadel SC :3).

Yuushi looked at the field. _"With a monster in defence mode, even if Laval Stannon's attack is higher, I can still defend with Alchemist of Black Spells and not lose any life points unless Hikaru summons a second monster in his next turn. A Spell Card means that my Citadel is closer to finishing and a Trap Card means he can't use it this turn and without cards in his hand, he probably wants to finish this duel soon. My facedown from earlier is nice but in this situation, it's not very helpful. Still I just have to hold out now since he doesn't cards in his hand"_ "I end my turn!"

Hikaru drew a card and added it to his empty hand making it the only card but still he grinned a bit. "Got a monster to help me break through to you. I summon Laval Warrior in attack mode (ATK: 1800, Level 4). Another golem with armor appeared form the card but this one was dual wielding two axes of fire. "First, I use Laval Stannon to destroy your defence monster with Molten Cannon". Again, a stream of lava was shot out and again Yuushi's monster was destroyed with ease.

"Great...", Yuushi said sarcastically while adjusting his glasses from the impact.

"Hope you can take the heat, Yuushi! Laval Warrior, attack him directly!" The two axes were thrown at Yuushi as they slashed through him before boomeranging back as he braced himself. "That's all for now!", his opponent shouted.

Yuushi- 300 LP

Hikaru- 2900 LP

Ayumi watched and was getting a bit worried but she was confident that he could turn it around so she cheered her friend on, "Yuushi, you can do it!"

Even though she wasn't dueling, Yuushi felt her encouragement as he drew another card and looked at his opponent.

"Once again, I play the Spell Card, Spell Power Grasp and like before another Spell Counter is added to the magical citadel from this card's effect (Citadel: 4 SC) and another one because I just used a Spell Card (Citadel: 5 SC). Sorry for the repetition but again, another Spell Power Grasp is added from my deck to my hand."

As Yuushi got the spell card, the markings on the large central tower of the citadel almost completed a circle of markings as he pulled out a different card from his hand. "Now I summon Apprentice Magician in attack mode and remember that Solidarity is still in play (Apprentice Magician ATK: 400+800= 1200 ATK)."

A blonde-haired purple armored magician showed up and raised his staff as the tower shined before revealing a completed circle of glowing glyphs that lit up.

"When Apprentice Magician is summoned, I can put a Spell Counter on a card of my choice like the Magical Citadel of Endymion (Citadel: 6 SC). Hikaru, do you like to hear about myths and legends?", he said while looking at another card in his hand.

Yuushi asked the question out of nowhere which confused Hikaru but he responded, "Sure why not. I mean, everyone likes a good story right? Especially if it's an exciting one!"

"Then I'll tell you about the Magical Citadel of Endymion. This advanced holy citadel was once devastated by a war between all types of monsters and groups. A few sorcerers rebuilt the citadel to be as large as a city using the ancient magic they knew of. The seals and barriers are wards to prevent the city from coming under attack and being destroyed again. Not only that but the magic throughout the city's network allowed it to absorb a part of any spell cast in the vicinity to power itself for everyday use by its citizens. Thus, because of its invincible defences in an era of war, the city was seen as a symbol of light and thus prospered attracting businesses, treasures and legends from all around the world. However, even with all these sorcerers gathered in this magical citadel, the one who led this project was a sorcerer who was a master of thousands of spells and made a tower for himself in the center of this citadel.", Yuushi narrated while summoning a monster.

"_That was a bit long...,"_ Hikaru thought to himself.

The glyphs got brighter as a light surrounded the tower from the bottom up. The light went higher and higher up the tower until the tower started glowing. Light was concentrated at the top of the tower before finally releasing a beam of light that arced in the sky before it came crashing down to the ground in front of Yuushi.

"By removing six Spell Counters from Magical Citadel of Endymion (Citadel: 0 SC), I can special summon forth this powerful magician from my hand or graveyard. So Endymion, the Master Magician, show yourself!"

The light caused an explosion as the dark purple armored magician stood up as his cape fluttered in the wind before spinning his staff into a position of battle (Endymion ATK: 2700+800= 3500 ATK, Level 7).

All his classmates looked on in silence as the Master Magician made his presence known. The magician lifted up his staff as it glowed before Yuushi explained what was happening. "Being a master of so many spells, I activate one of his abilities. When he is special summoned by removing six Spell Counters, I can add a spell card from my graveyard to my hand...such as Spell Power Grasp."

"That's a strong card, but I think I can handle this...", Hikaru quietly said, now a bit worried now that a card with more attack has appeared on his opponent's field.

"You wanted to see a few tricks right? Well, let me show you some of his. First I use Endymion to attack Laval Stannon with Luminous Flare! Also, I activate this trap card I had facedown, Magician's Circle."

Endymion charges up as a purple orb at the end of its staff starts to light up while some of his energy is drawn into the card as a green magical circle rotates revealing four tips as a dark red-cloaked puppetmaster appears from the green circle with its puppet, a doll wielding two swords (ATK: 2000+800= 2800)

"That trap lets me summon a Spellcaster with 2000 or less attack from my deck in faceup attack position when a Spellcaster attacks. Hey, Hikaru, you got any Spellcasters with 2000 or less attack because now's your chance to special summon it."

Hikaru sighed with a bit of disappointment, "Nope, no Spellcasters in my deck. Maybe I should add some after this is over." He chuckled lightly as Endymion finished up charging before launching an attack that appeared to be a sphere of light that travelled and collided with Laval Stannon disintegrating it on impact.

Yuushi- 300 LP

Hikaru- 2100 LP

"Magical Marionette, take out his last monster Laval Gunner!". The puppet was launched out by the puppetmaster as Laval Gunner tried to shoot it down but its strings caused the puppet to move in awkward directions before slashing down Laval Gunner.

Yuushi- 300 LP

Hikaru- 1100 LP

Hikaru took a step back realizing what would happen next but he gave off a sigh and stood his ground. Though he was disappointed at the result, he accepted it as he held his head up.

"The last attack! Apprentice Magician, direct attack!", was the last words Yuushi shouted as the magician shot out a purple ray blasting Hikaru in the stomach as he fell to one knee.

Yuushi- 300 LP - WIN

Hikaru- 0 LP

The battlefield returned to a normal classroom as Yuushi and Hikaru walked towards each other. With a smile, the two were beside each other and Hikaru was the first to say something. "Just a small bump on my way to the top. When I become Duel Champion someday, I'll be sure to give you an autograph."

Ayumi approached the two of them, "That was a good match, you two."

Yuushi agreed with Ayumi but responded to Hikaru's statement, "Is it your dream to be Duel Champion someday?"

"Of course it is! Just you watch, some day, some time, it'll happen," Hikaru exclaimed as the three of them heard another explosion from a duel nearby.

"If that's what you want to do, then good luck. There are some really tough duelists out there, you know," Ayumi mentioned.

Hikaru knew about the pro duelists and so did many others including Yuushi and Ayumi, especially those who were considered world-class. Not all professional duelists were considered world-class though, as many were just doing it in their spare time or just for some money for something else. However, the gap between those duelists known to the world and the regular pro duelists was something that a lot of people kept in mind. "Thanks. But yeah, I've seen them, on the internet and on television, some of those pros are in a league of their own but I'll catch up. Oh, I'd better get some more duels in then. Thanks you two and I'll see you during classes tomorrow or something," the boy excitedly said and walked off to find another opponent, not seemingly losing any spirit from his loss.

The two watched him disappear into a crowd of people as Yuushi stretched a bit after that last duel.

With another flash from a nearby duel and the sound of chatter, Ayumi smiled a bit and made a comment to Yuushi, "I don't think I could ever be as excited as Hikaru."

"I might be, just not as, what's a good word...verbally excited as him. Oh, are you planning to duel someone Ayumi?", said Yuushi remembering that she only watched their duel.

With a bit of thought, Ayumi replied, "Maybe. But let's see how other people are doing first". With that, she started to walk to a nearby duel. Yuushi followed her as they saw a large bird monster being summoned in that duel followed by a lightning cloud being summoned.

Even Mr. Yamazaki was watching the duels with interest as he circled the classroom to quickly see how the duels were going, if anyone needed advice or if anyone just wanted to talk. The teacher saw the two talking and remembered a bit earlier that Yuushi was dueling against Hikaru and went to see how he was.

"I see you finished your duel from earlier," said the teacher, trying to read what was on his students' mind.

"Yeah and Yuushi here won but it was close," Ayumi mentioned

Yuushi put his deck away and put an arm on a narby table to balance himself. "Yeah, but I think that he seemed more happy about the duel I was. Not to say, that I didn't enjoy it myself."

With a chuckle Mr. Yamazaki watched the duel as the thunderstorm struck another card on the field destroying it in a flash of light. "Well, I should check on that duel since I guess you could say that...a storm is brewing."

Ayumi slightly chuckled out of politeness but Yuushi just pretended not to hear it as their teacher walked over to the other duel.

About two hours later, the school day getting closer to lunchtime as many people were still continuing to duel and others were watching, including Yuushi. This time though Ayumi was the one dueling another girl in their class and the duel had already gone on for several turns. There were a few more spectators than Yuushi's duel as many wanted a break from dueling for the time.

Ayumi- 2800 LP

Girl- 200 LP

Though many would assume Ayumi had the win secured, Yuushi thought otherwise as he observed the field. On Ayumi's side there was a facedown in the Spell/Trap zone and on the other girl's side were two monsters, Dragon Seeker (ATK: 2000, Level 6) which was a large yellow-winged blue and green gargoyle and Belial- Marquis of Darkness (ATK: 2800, Level 8), a dark-winged angel with white hair and a white cape wielding a giant sword. In addition, the girl also had her own facedown in the Spell/Trap zone.

The girl looked over, "I end my turn."

"_Ayumi really needs a card that can inflict direct damage, that would be the easiest way out of this. A direct attack from Belial would finish this duel,"_ thought Yuushi as he waited to see what would happen.

"_Dragon Seeker isn't too much of a problem since it's already been summoned and I have no dragons out right now. The real problem is Belial. As long as that card remains, I can't target any other faceup monster she controls with an attack or with spell and trap cards. But let's see what happens,"_ Ayumi looked on.

"My turn. Draw," signalled Ayumi who looked at the card she just drew. "When I have two or more normal monsters in my graveyard, I can special summon this card from my hand."

The other girl thought about this for a minute but interrupted since she was a bit confused, "Wait, you don't have two normal monsters in your graveyard. You have Tune Warrior and that's it, right?"

"You're forgot that my Dark Valkyria has an ability that works in the graveyard," Ayumi said pulling the card out of the graveyard slot and showing it to her. "One of its effects is that this effect monster is treated as a normal monster when it's on the field or in my graveyard."

"Oh, my bad," the girl said not realizing the effect.

"Then, I'll special summon Woodland Archer in attack mode (ATK: 1400, Level 3)". A elderly bearded ogre with a purple tail appeared with a bow in hand as another card was summoned with it. "I summon Minar in attack mode as well (ATK: 850, Level 3)". On her command, a small red and grey insect with purple claws jumped out from the card she had laid to summon it.

A spectator watching this wasn't too impressed with the two level three monsters on the field. "Even if those monsters combined their attacks, Belial is still far too powerful for them."

"You idiot. Don't you know what's going to happen?", the spectator's male friend said while looking a bit disappointed.

"_This will be the end. I'm breaking through!", _Ayumi thought while getting ready. "I overlay both my Level 3 Woodland Archer and my Level 3 Minar". She raised her hand up as in the middle of the dueling field, an explosion occurred revealing a golden light forming a spiral red vortex opening up as both of Ayumi's monsters turn into two brown orbs.

"I construct an overlay network with these two monsters!". Both orbs flew into the red vortex as another green explosion destroyed the vortex triggering a sudden tidal wave. The girl finished off as a blue and golden winged dragon with a serpent tail dispersed the wave. Around the dragon were two green orbs rotating around. "I XYZ Summon, Leviair the Sea Dragon!" (ATK: 1800, Rank 3, Overlay Units (OU): 2)

With the dragon, Yuushi was surprised while trying to evaluate its strength. _"An XYZ Summon, when two monsters of the same level work together and pool their energy, that dimensional gateway opens revealing a new power. The monsters used for XYZ summoning don't go anywhere but act as Overlay Units (OU) for the XYZ monster equal to the amount of monsters used for the XYZ summon. Additionally, the other major unique property to XYZ monsters is that they have Ranks and not Levels."_

Ayumi's opponent was astonished as well but remembered her facedown in the Spell/Trap zone. _"If she tries to activate a trap during the battle phase, my Trap Jammer facedown will be there to save me."_

Ayumi continued her move as Leviair ate one of the two green orbs. "I activate Leviair's ability (OU: 1). Once per turn, I remove an Overlay Unit to special summon a Level 4 or lower removed from play monster to my side of the field. From earlier in the duel, I special summon Getsu Fuhma."

With that, Ayumi sent an Overlay Unit from underneath the Leviair the Sea Dragon card, in this case Minar, to the graveyard. Another, though less powerful, tidal wave swept the field as a monster emerged from the tidal wave. A red-haired armored female warrior holding an enchanted sword surrounded by a blue aura was ready for battle (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

The facedown card on Ayumi's side was revealed as it shocked her opponent since it was an equip magic spell, not a trap card. A red-beaded pendant appeared around Leviair as it roared with authority (Leviair ATK: 1800+500= 2300 ATK). "My facedown card was Black Pendant. I can equip it to a monster and have it gain 500 ATK," she said calmly. "Getsu Fuhma attacks Belial!"

Yuushi thought he heard Ayumi wrong but sure enough the female warrior went to attack the dark angel. _"What is she doing..."_

Sure enough, a lot of people seemed confused by her actions. One person even yelled out, "She's crazy!" Ayumi's monster had far lower attack points than Belial which would only cause her monster to be destroyed and her to lose life points. Her opponent wouldn't lose anything from this exchange. The swordswoman slashed down leaving a huge mark in the air but the dark angel blocked it and with a mighty thrust countered and slashed Getsu Fuhma in half destroying it.

Ayumi- 1700 LP

Girl- 200 LP

A student shook his head, "Does she even know what she's doing?"

Her opponent was just as confused when suddenly Belial was slashed in half as well in a flash of light with both monsters being sent to the graveyard. "What happened? Why was Belial destroyed too?", her opponent remarked seeing as no cards were played from Ayumi's hand nor any spell or traps or graveyard effects either.

"Getsu Fuhma has a special ability that only works on Fiend or Zombie monsters. At the end of the battle and damage calculations, if she battled a Fiend such as your Belial or a Zombie, that monster is automatically destroyed afterwards," she clarified. "Now, Leviair, attack Dragon Seeker!" The dragon opened it mouth and a blast of water was shot out eventually washing away Dragon Seeker in the current as it was destroyed as well.

Ayumi- 1700 LP - WIN

Girl- 0 LP

Her opponent took off her D-Gazer as Ayumi did so as well with the two of them walking up to each other and talking now. "I thought I had that duel won. That XYZ summon really came out of nowhere," the girl said.

"No, I learned a lot from the duel as well,"mentioned Ayumi as she smiled at her.

With that last note, the bell run signalling the start of lunchtime.

The girl was about to leave but she said one last thing, "Good luck this year."

"Same to you. Keep up the good work". With that the two went their own ways as much of the class was already near the door to exit the classroom.

"Remember there's still another half of the school day left!", Mr. Yamazaki tried to remind everyone through the chatter and footsteps.

Yuushi and Ayumi met up outside the class wondering where to eat. They had their lunches in their hands and they first entered the lunchroom and saw a whole bunch of people just eating and chattering. There were a few empty seats but most were near other groups of friends.

"There's a lot of people here," Ayumi said quietly in a bit of a surprised voice.

They walked a bit around the lunchroom and still, there was no sign of seats that were not only unoccupied but also a place where the two of them could eat quietly.

"Guess there's no good seats here," said Yuushi as he decided that there really was probably no good seats left.

Both of them left and started looking around the school. The hallways had a few students eating and they even saw two people dueling along the way. They probably could have sat in the hallway but something about it just didn't appeal to them for now. There were lockers for students, a staff room, an office, multiple classes, a gym with a swimming pool and that was just a part of one building. The windows in the hall showed the scenery outside, a few trees and bushes with the city of Heartland and massive tower stretching above it all.

"So today's going to be dueling but then regular classes will begin tomorrow?", Yuushi asked as Ayumi looked around.

"Yeah, that's what Mr. Yamazaki said anyways. But after lunch, if you want to duel, there's still a lot of time left," the girl said.

"A lot of time...", and with a click Yuushi got the time up on his D-Pad as he corrected her, "Not as much now, we spent too much time running around looking outside."

A door nearby opened up as a familiar face walked through. "Hey, Yuushi, Ayumi! How have you two been?", asked Hikaru who seemed to have just finished his own lunch.

"A bit hungry," Yuushi said while looking at his lunch.

"Why don't you eat on the rooftop? It's a bit cold out there but I swear it's one of the view you can get in the whole academy. Come on, I'll show you two," Hikaru quickly said as he started to go up to the stairs again.

At the rooftop, the place was relatively calm with the breeze blowing lightly as there were a few other students up there. Not as much as in the lunchroom but a few nonetheless.

"Hey, there's a bench over there," Yuushi mentioned as he pointed to an empty bench near the fence.

Hikaru walked over to the fence and took a look at the view. He saw a few buildings, people, cars and streets as he smiled a bit. "What did I tell you? Best view in the school or what". He went to sit down near Yuushi and Ayumi as now the two of them have started to eat now. Soon enough, the two of them finished while staring at the view while Hikaru started to talk again. Ayumi pulled out a snack as they looked at the academy's rooftop view "How do you guys like it here so far?," he asked.

With a bite of her snack, Ayumi said, "Well, it seems normal at least but that opening ceremony was different."

Yuushi agreed and added on to what she said. "Hard to say after only a day here and we're not even finished with that."

"Got that right," Hikaru nodded and thought out loud. "I wonder who in our class I haven't dueled. Oh, there was that tall, skinny guy I wanted to challenge. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

Yuushi just stared out and wondered that despite what little of Heartland that they could see, there was a lot more out there. Yet, he knew that he should be more worried about what's in Delta right now than what's outside the academy walls. A five-minute warning bell rung throughout the school as people on the rooftop started to head back as with the sound of a cracker being bitten, Ayumi finished her snack.

"See you inside!," Hikaru said while he was already at the door leading downstairs.

Yuushi turned back to look at Ayumi as the two headed downstairs back to their classroom as well. "You heard the guy, got another half a day to go. I don't think I have quite the energy he does though."

"But if he wants to be Duel Champion...," the girl said with a smile, "This will be good practice for him. Even if he loses, he doesn't look the guy who will go down from just a few defeats."

Back inside, Mr. Yamazaki was sitting down reading a book himself while everyone was seated though Ayumi could tell that a few of them were just waiting to continue on with the day. The bell rang which would normally signal the start of a new class but as per the tradition, the whole day was dueling and socializing. With a smile, the teacher nodded to his students as they cheered before a few started to duel. Putting down his book, Yuushi noticed the title of the book and went over to the teacher with interest.

"Wait, Yuushi, where are you...," said Ayumi as she was suddenly interrupted by Hikaru again.

The energetic boy had his deck in hand again as he saw Ayumi and started to question her. "Hey, where's Yuushi? He owes me a rematch. I'm on fire right now. Got myself a winning streak and hopefully I can finish it off by beating the only person I lost to today so far."

"Well, he's a bit busy. There was a book that caught his eye", she said with confidence.

The boy chuckled but continued, "Wait, reading? It's duel day today, not cram for exam day. He'll have plenty of time to read, Unless, wait...," Hikaru realized, "Is he one of those bookworm types? Besides how do you know he likes reading? Maybe he wants to challenge Mr. Yamazaki to a duel."

With a smile, Ayumi got up and started to head to the other side of the class where most of the students were. "Legends and well, just mysteries were what got him into Duel Monsters in the first place so it shouldn't be too unexpected that he likes texts. I was a bit suspicious that's why he liked dueling but I confirmed it today, that's what got him into Duel Monsters."

Hikaru was fixed trying to process this but he just got his deck ready. "Yeah, well if that's what he likes, that's what he likes. But none of that book stuff for me, I like the hands-on approach more."

He headed off as Ayumi started to watch the other duels behind her. _"We each have our own reasons for doing what we do, whether people think that's what's best or not."_

At the desk, Mr. Yamazaki noticed Yuushi walking up to him and stared at the book he was reading. "Oh, you alright?", the teacher asked wondering what a student was here.

As he confirmed the book, Yuushi answered back, "Everything's fine but that text you have. 'Duels of the Decade', I think I have that book back at home, or was that Volume Two."

"This is just a copy I got from the school library. It's a pretty good library. I think it has up to Volume Three and it's missing the last two of the series. I figured since today's a duel day, I should brush up a bit of dueling," he said calmly.

Yuushi started to walk away as he smiled, "It's a good series. I guess I might have to rent to some time. Thanks, Mr. Yamazaki. This talk really helped."

The teacher was puzzled as he felt that it wasn't really a talk but as long as a student was satisfied. "Well, if there's anything you need, you can talk to me."

Yuushi nodded out of respect as he took off to where all the duels were happening. Class continued as it started to reach an hour into the second half.

"XYZ Summon! The flames that ignite the trailing winds! Lavalval Chain!", was heard from Hikaru as several explosions triggered from his duel.

During Hikaru's duel, on the other side of the class, other people had gathered to watch someone else.

"I summon Defender, the Magical Knight!", Yuushi commanded.

Later that day, as the class was about to end, students were prepared to head home but nonetheless many still had the enthusiasm as when they just started.

"My facedown trap activates, Cemetery Bomb," Ayumi said as she revealed the facedown card on her field to her opponent.

After these duels were finished, the final bell rung as a few duels that were in progress stopped as people started to exit the classroom.

Mr. Yamazaki thought that the day went fairly well but he felt that he needed to remind his students something, "Class, please remember that tomorrow you should bring your school materials with you. There will be various classes!"

Students started to head home or met up with their friends as groups stared to gather by the stairway, lockers or outside as Yuushi, Ayumi and Hikaru were their own group heading back home each with their backpacks and equipment.

Yuushi took a stretch and wanted to wait for his dad or his mom but they were busy. His dad was working somewhere as a researcher now and he would be extremely busy while his mom had to take care of the house which was no easy feat. He looked up at the passing white monorail seeing it move along the tracks.

While walking, they reached a street as Hikaru started to diverge from the other two, heading to the left rather than going across the street. "I guess this is where we split off. My house is pretty close from here. Are you guys going to take the monorail?"

"Probably," Yuushi had said as Hikaru started to take off.

"Alright, see you tomorrow then," he said back as he disappeared in the crowd.

"Bye," Ayumi tried to say hoping he heard her.

They crossed the street as a while later, they reached the monorail station. After a flight of stairs, they bought tickets for the next monorail from the attendant after a short lineup. Both of them sat down and started to talk when the station had announced that the next monorail would be arriving soon.

"Today was pretty nice," said the girl.

Yuushi looked as the monorail was in sight as passengers started to line up trying to get in. "I thought so too but tomorrow's another day."

The monorail finally came to a halt as the doors opened and the two of them boarded on their way back to their own homes.

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><p><strong>Preview Chapter 3<strong>

Hikaru: That citadel was so cool! But I like my monsters better.

Yuushi: The duel was nice. But I thought the citadel looked better

Hikaru: What's this, whoa, something's going to happen at Delta! Wait, who's that?

Ayumi: ...It's someone no one wants to duel but I will. Next time, Chapter 3: Overcome the Strong

Hikaru: What's with your deck though?

Yuushi: Ayumi, please be alright.


	3. Character Info

**(This part has been posted but I'll do it again just to be safe)**

**These are just some really quick notes about this fanfic (Please Read)**

I don't own Yugioh Zexal

I know sometimes people like to submit Original Characters but I request that you please don't. The reason behind this is because I am relatively new to writing and I would rather not mess up something that someone else put work into. Deck ideas however, I am willing to accept in the comments section and will credit if I use them.

There will be cards I make up but I will put a section at the end of each chapter for made up cards that debut. Every other card you can look up to see its effects

All types of summons allowed. So fusion, ritual, synchro, XYZ, etc are all fair game

Story takes place at about the same time as Yugioh Zexal when the Numbers appear

"Staples" will be relatively rare. Staples include cards like BTH, Mirror Force, Dimensional Prison, Heavy Storm, Raigeki, Dark Hole, Dark Strike Fighter, Goyo Guardian, etc. The reason behind this is that it's more interesting to write when people have more unique cards to them and that duels don't turn into Mirror Force, Dimension Prison, BTH battles. However, if a character runs an Ice Barrier deck, that person having Brionac is not out of the question.

Cards that are character-bound will be arguably rarer that the staples. This is just for the sake of the story. Thus not everyone will be pulling out Stardust Dragons, Shooting Star Dragons, Black Rose Dragons, Neos, Cyber Darks, Arcana, Dark Magician, Blue Eyes, Rainbow Dragon, Planets, Toons, etc.

**Any comments, feedback, etc, please post whether good or bad**

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><p><strong>Below is just a quick introductory page for the main characters that is subject to change. I would have posted this earlier but I didn't want the first duel to be spoiled<strong>

**Yuushi Sakudo (Age 15 Male)**

Deck: Spell Counters

Ace Cards: Arcanite Magician, Endymion the Master Magician

Appearance: Short black hair combed to the right side. He has silver glasses with a bit of brown on the ends which can double as a D-Gazer with a standard dark green D-Pad for dueling. He carries a dark red backpack to classes that contains things such as supplies for class and textbooks that he is interested in. His casual attire is a brown shirt with dark green long pants.

Quick bio: Yuushi is a relatively serious individual who is interested in Duel Monsters and its supernatural history, especially after he received his ace monster Arcanite Magician from the stars. He has heard of a few supernatural occurrences related to Duel Monsters in the past which has had global impact on the world. In school and in dueling, Yuushi tries to maintain a calm, analytical demeanor and press on no matter what.

**Ayumi Miyara (Age 15 Female)**

Deck: ?

Ace Cards: ?

Appearance: Medium length straight dark brown hair that's not quite at her shoulders with dark blue eyes. She has a modified silver D-Pad and carries around many different card holders with her. Her casual wear is a red jacket and blue blouse underneath or a light blue hoodie with red shorts.

Quick Bio: A person that's relatively technology-savvy seeing as she often tinkers with whatever gadgets or machines she can. Watches, D-Gazers, D-Pad, computers, she's interested in all of them. Ayumi has been Yuushi's best friend ever since they met around four years ago. Back at her old school, she was an extraordinary duelist despite that she never used any single consistent deck. Because of this though, her dueling style is seen by others as inconsistent which many believe holds her back though she doesn't seem to mind. Is this inconsistency merely luck or is there more than what things appear to be?

**Hikaru Aoki (Age 16 Male)**

Deck: Laval

Ace Cards: Laval Stannon, Lavalval Chain

Appearance: Short and spiky dark blue-black hair at ear-length. He usually has a black watch in his backpack and a red D-Pad on his left wrist coupled with the normal green eyepiece D-Gazer. His casual wear is normally a brown shirt combined with dark red pants with a dark yellow stripe down the left side.

Quick Bio: He is laid-back, outspoken, confident and most of all relentless in his dream, hoping to be a great Duel Champion some day. Despite his loud and bold attitude, he typically respects his opponents and knows the responsibility that being a Duel Champion will have. He meets Yuushi and Ayumi on their first day at Delta Academy as the three of them start the new year. Despite his confidence, there is a hint of sadness in his voice unbeknownst to the others.


	4. Chapter 3: Overcome the Strong

**Chapter 3: Overcome the Strong**

In class, Mr. Yamazaki was giving a lecture with Yuushi, Ayumi, Hikaru and the rest of Class 1-D listening. Yuushi and Ayumi were taking notes on their D-Pads but Hikaru was split trying to pay attention, taking some notes and thinking about things like lunch or what to do afterwards.

"_I wonder what's on television today, I know there's a show I'm recording. I have to turn that off when I get home, get dinner ready a bit later. Sure hope there isn't much homework today,"_ Hikaru thought as he listened in a bit on his teacher's lecture.

"When the pressure of water exceeds this constant, you can see that the formula here changes like so...," Mr. Yamazaki instructed as Hikaru's notes started to get less and less detailed, filling in whatever he could hear once in a while on the screen. The image of water appeared as Mr. Yamazaki tried to incorporate a visual component to the lecture but all the sound of water did was make Hikaru more tired.

Science class went on and on but and soon the lunch bell rang as students started to put away their papers and pencils as everyone went to eat. By now, a few people were still trying to get used to the school and where everything was. Regardless, most people at least knew somebody else that they did not know before. As per usual, a few students were already dueling but Yuushi and Ayumi decided to have their lunch in the hallway. A few students were putting up posters, signs or links on D-Pads for students to check out various events like clubs and meetings.

For the beginning of the school year, Yuushi figured that people would be scrambling like this for a while as he and Ayumi were about to finish their lunch, someone that Ayumi recognized approached the two with smile. The girl who appeared had brown-red long hair past her shoulders as she greeted Ayumi, "Hey, so is this where you eat lunch now?"

The girl sat down near the two as Yuushi wanted to just blend in so he continued eating his lunch without anthing. Ayumi put down her food for a minute and started to talk with her. "Ryoko, hey, I haven't seen you in a while. You're not in Class 1-D are you?"

"No, I'm in 1-A. Oh, how's your classes going?", the girl wondered. "Oh, is that Yuushi? You talked about him a few times last year. That's your friend from a different school, right?"

Yuushi finished his lunch with a gulp as he looked at the girl thinking about what to say. _"Well, she doesn't have any food so I'm guessing she finished lunch already. Maybe she's a classmate from Ayumi's old school before we all came here to Delta,"_ he observed to himself.

"Yeah, that's him. Yuushi, this is Ryoko, a friend of mine and well Ryoko, that's Yuushi," Ayumi felt a bit clumsy since she didn't notice them sooner but still the two greeted each other and they continued to talk. Yuushi felt a bit better since a formal introduction was made, even if it didn't have any significant or long-lasting impact at the time.

"How did you like the first day of traditional dueling?", asked Yuushi trying to find something to talk about that he hoped that they all had in common.

Ryoko thought about it for a bit and answered back, "I did alright I guess. I didn't exactly win every match I went into but there were just a few times where I wish I had thought things out more carefully. I played a few cards at a bad time that I wish I didn't". She turned to the other two thinking about the duel tradition and asked them, "How did you two do and how many people did you duel?"

"I came pretty close to losing a few but I got a bit lucky and somehow managed to make my way through," Yuushi said while remembering a few close calls.

"That's good. Guess you are as good a duelist as Ayumi had said but Ayumi did you lose any?", the girl said trying to compare her record with someone she knew.

Remembering back, Ayumi replied, "I didn't duel too many people. Most of them wanted to challenge me and well I didn't want to be rude and say no."

Yuushi followed up, "I don't remember her losing a duel."

Ryoko seemed a bit disappointed but continued, "I should have known. You're still as just a great duelist as last year. Guess you haven't lost your touch."

"Well, I'm not that great," Ayumi responded.

"Stop being so modest, you're amazing. I mean you're probably one of the best duelists I know. Did you make up your mind on what deck you want to use or are you still just using whatever cards you have on you?," mentioned Ryoko.

Yuushi was intrigued now and thought to himself. _"I know that Ayumi's good and all but saying best is probably a bit much. Still, I don't know how good she really is since well, we went to different schools. She didn't lose in the traditional dueling day but I didn't lose either. One thing's for sure though, she has been using whatever cards she can find to form a deck and she's been alternating decks for a while."_

Ayumi finished her own lunch while Yuushi was thinking as Hikaru saw the three of them and quickly ran over to them. He panted a bit from exhaustion as the other three saw him but he said, "Oh, hey, you two. There's something happening."

Yuushi said seeing the boy, "What is it?"

"Here I'll show you. Come on. Come on," Hikaru hastily said.

He motioned for them to follow. The hallways were a bit more empty as they turned the corner and started to hear the sounds of people talking. With another right, they saw a bunch of students crowded around a poster.

Ryoko seemed a bit nervous seeing the crowd, "So, are we really going to have to get through all those people?"

Hikaru was gone already and the three of them saw him trying to fight his way through the group. They reluctantly followed Hikaru as they eventually saw what the commotion was about. There was a Duel Monsters related poster with cards cross-crossing each other in a spiral. There was a triangle surrounding the spiral with the image of a monster card, spell card and trap card on the three corners. There was a shine to the poster and the background was the image of a wide shot of Delta Academy from far away.

"Oh, that. I saw that earlier today. That's why everyone was putting up those posters," Ryoko said not too impressed.

"You saw it already? Yuushi, Ayumi, did you two see it? I don't want to have fought through all those people for nothing you know," Hikaru hoped.

"Nope," both of them said.

Hikaru started to clarify things, "Turns out there's going to be a tournament in the academy to see who's the best duelist here. It's not going to be too big but with everyone interested in Duel Monsters, there's going to be a lot of people signing up. Since Reiji went on that trip, a lot of people are competing now trying to be the best. As long you're a student here, you can sign up. There's a bunch of upper year students in already but I'll show them that age doesn't matter, it's skill that matters."

"Yeah, I think I'll sign up tomorrow. I'm still not sure about it," Ryoko said.

Yuushi was interested since it would probably be a fun tournament with all these people. A few of his classmates have likely signed up and he did not see the harm in trying. "Alright, tomorrow I'll sign up as well."

Ayumi looked at the poster too and thought to herself whether she would join in or not for a moment. After reading the poster, they started to walk away as more people like them were interested in seeing this poster.

Hikaru could barely contain his happiness as he grinned, "Alright! Now I'll have to prepare for that too. You three better hope you don't get unlucky and face me cause my Lavals will set this place on fire!"

"About that, you see, I don't think I'll be in. But I'll be cheering you guys on from the audience while you all have fun."

Hearing this, the three stopped as Hikaru was a bit stunned. "Wait, what? Come on, it's totally boring just watching."

Ryoko agreed with him. "So what if the upper years are dueling. I've seen you duel, you should be able to put up a great fight," she said quickly trying to encourage her.

Ayumi smiled softly and closed her eyes. "Don't worry. I have a lot of fun just watching people duel. It sounds sort of weird but I promise that I won't be bored," she assured everyone.

"If that's alright with you, then it's fine but are you sure?", questioned Yuushi while making sure it is what she really wanted. _"I'm sure she has her reasons not to. Maybe she's trying to get a grasp of what deck she wants to use. She's probably just trying to learn more about her dueling style. Still, we can't force her to do something she doesn't want to do."_

"Thank you all for asking but yeah, I'm going to sit this one out," Ayumi declared.

The other three looked at each other and figured that they would drop the subject as they kept on walking. Yuushi looked at his green D-Pad for the time and lunchtime was about a bit over halfway done. He closed his D-Pad and the group turned another corner and saw another smaller crowd of people with their D-Gazers on.

"Phantom Dragon, attack that loser directly!", a male voice said as a nearly dead, black dragon roared and shot out black fog from its mouth. The fog enveloped his opponent as he coughed before he fell backwards as the fog covered him. The duel was over as all the monsters and cards on the field disappeared including the black fog.

The person who won the duel was a tall, skinny boy with tall but short spiky black hair as he was opposed by a shorter but just as skinny brown haired boy.. The audience started to walk away as the boy who won walked over to the other boy and searched his deck. The winner took a card and started to look at it for a bit.

"Hey, punk. Are you trying to rip me off or something?", the taller kid said. He searched through a bit more and pocketed that one card he was holding before taking another card out of the other guy's deck.

Yuushi and the others saw that he was taking what was likely the best card in the opponent's deck as he said to the others, "If he's taking a card like that, was this an ante duel? I read in the rules that this wasn't allowed."

Ryoko seemed disappointed, "Yeah. I know who that guy is too. That's Jurou, I heard that he's a bully who uses the ante rule to get what he wants. I also heard that last year, the teacher's got him to stop but it seems that he's back to his old ways."

"If it's almost lunchtime, I bet all the teachers are getting ready for class or are just in the teacher's lounge. Either way, if he won fast enough, no teacher or Principal Tsubasa would notice since there's tons of duels at lunch," Yuushi thought out loud.

Ayumi and Hikaru watched as the boy took another card and threw the rest on the ground scattering them all over the place. Everyone but a handful of people quickly left as not to get involved in this as Jurou laughed.

"These cards are almost as worthless as you. What a waste of my time. It even took longer than the 15 minutes I said, so actually, you made me look like a fool! Well, I know you can make it up to me by giving me the two rarest cards you have," Jurou angrily said.

The boy got up and tried to plead with him. "What, but you can't change the rules like that. We said that the winner would only get one of the loser's cards."

Jurou stared at the duelist and said in a mocking tone, "Oh, can't change the rules blah blah blah...tough luck, chump! Losers don't have a say in this."

Getting up, the boy tried grabbing the card but Jurou just shoved him back down. "Listen, if you don't want me to bother you anymore like I have been, then I'll just take this and we can call it even. I got what I needed from you and so you're no use to me anymore."

Taking the second card, everyone around felt a bit uncomfortable and didn't want to be the next person on Jurou's list.

"Hey! You shouldn't duel like that!" a female voice shouted.

Everyone looked at the direction of the voice as Ayumi started walking around and picking up the other boy's deck and arranging them before handing the deck back to him.

"I'll keep that in mind so beat it lady! It's over, I beat him, the loser lost and I just took a powerful card that he didn't deserve out of that weak deck!" Jurou yelled while trying to intimidate Ayumi who just stared back.

Ayumi looked up and stared him in the eyes, "I saw his deck. It's not weak, it's fine the way it was before you showed up."

Jurou had never seen Ayumi around so he figured that she was probably a first-year at Delta. _"Maybe she doesn't know me yet, well I'll make sure to change that. Besides her cards might help me out in that tournament,"_ Jurou thought with malicious intention. "Well, if you think you're so great telling me what to do. How about a duel to settle it? Loser has to give the winner one card of the winner's choice," said Jurou.

Hikaru was a bit worried now as he knew this was morally wrong to just sit around saying nothing. "Alright, but I'll duel then. I don't know who you think are you but..."

Yuushi also stepped forward also wanting to say something but Ayumi interrupted both of them, "No, he challenged me and so that's fine. I'll accept a duel under those conditions."

"What?", Yuushi quickly responded as he stopped.

With a chuckle Jurou said, "Oh, someone thinks they have what it takes to be in the same league as me? Alright fine, then meet me in the back court behind the recreation building, the right most building of Delta Academy. So what do you think of that?"

Ayumi didn't flinch at all as she answered back sharply, "Sounds good. A duel it is then with the winner taking a card of their choice, whether it be strong or weak,"

To Jurou, he knew he didn't intimidate the girl as his face suddenly got angrier. _"This girl thinks I want a weak card. I don't want weak cards, I need strong cards that can smash down anyone in my way. Well if she wants to help weaklings..."_

The group started to disperse thinking it was the end but Jurou added something else, "I'll make things more interesting. I'll you what I'll do. I feel like taking advantage of a girl is a little too bad for my taste so how about this. If you win, you can take any amount of cards in my deck including the ones I took from that loser over there," he said pointing to the shorter kid. "But if I win, I can take all the cards in your deck. Oh, one last thing, this little rule only applies if you agree to duel under one tiny condition."

Ayumi listened silently as the bully continued, "You have to duel me with no monster higher than Level 4. Oh and don't think you can sneak through with Synchros or XYZs since this rule also means that additionally, you can't use any Fusion, Ritual, Synchro or XYZ monsters at all."

"What? You have to be kidding me? You're a disgrace!", Hikaru yelled.

Yuushi was visibly upset too. _"So if Ayumi wants more to get more than one card back from this jerk, assuming she wins, she can't use any Fusion, Ritual, Synchro or XYZ Mosnters and the monsters she can use have to be Level 4 or below"._ He wanted to say what was on his mind, "Ayumi, just say no! You don't have to do this!"

Even the boy agreed, "Thank you for trying but I wouldn't want you to end up like me."

Staring intensely at her opponent, she still continued, "After school, behind the right most building right? Until then."

With a malicious smile, Jurou nodded as he said, "I'll be waiting. Just don't go regretting this!". He laughed as he started to walk away.

Hikaru was still agitated from what just happened, "That isn't fair at all. He can summon whatever and you just have Level 4 or below monsters."

Yuushi nodded in agreement, "I think that was the point. But Ayumi, are you really going to go through with this?"

"Yeah I am," said Ayumi boldly.

Yuushi opened a deck holder as he pulled out a pile of cards. "If I can't stop you, then I can at least help you out a bit." He started to sort of cards from Level 4 or below monsters, spell and trap cards forming three piles.

"Ayumi, show that punk what you're made of," Ryoko smiled as she pulled out her own cards.

Hikaru followed suit and starting arranging his own piles. "Guys like that! They just burn me up. Here, take these if you need them."

Ayumi accepted everyone's cards as she looked at them carefully, "With the ante rule in play, I'll make sure not to lose."

Even Ryoko went over a pile and starting sorting her cards, "Relax, if anyone can do it, I know it's you."

With a smile, Ayumi was happy that all her friends were behind her. The pile was sorted and Yuushi took all the cards and handed them over. She looked again at the three others who smiled as she carefully took the cards and started sorting.

Even the boy seemed happy and offered up his cards to the pile as eventually they sorted the cards out. "Good luck. I hope you teach him a lesson," the boy said a bit shakily.

The bell rung as the boy nervously took off with Ayumi having what she needed to get ready for the duel as she stared as the pile with a sharp look. Everyone got to their classrooms as Ryoko went back to her own 1-A room. In 1-D, Yuushi, Ayumi and Hikaru were a bit late but Mr. Yamazaki let them off without too much of a hassle. During breaks either in class or in between classes, Ayumi fiddled around with the cards and thought about what she would do. Eventually, before classes officially ended, she had build a deck meeting the conditions Jurou outlined.

Later that day, the final rung throughout the school signalling that school was over for the day as many students started heading home as usual. However, Yuushi, Ayumi, Hikaru and Ryoko who they met along the way, were headed to the back court behind the recreation building. A few people had already gathered there including the boy who lost his cards to Jurou.

Ayumi stepped forward seeing Jurou already with his D-Gazer and D-Pad set up reading to go. The crowd knew about the conditions and started to mutter amongst themselves.

"_This will show any of the new duelists what they're up against when they face me,"_ Jurou grinned to himself with confidence. "Good luck, you'll need it," he said with a sly smile.

Upon hearing those words, Ayumi just brought out her D-Pad and turned on her D-Gazer while saying nothing to her opponent.

Similarly, Jurou also got ready to duel at their match started. "You scared or something? No problem, I'll make sure to finish it in 15 minutes then for your sake."

Yuushi seemed a bit troubled at the silence. _"Ayumi usually at least says something like 'Good luck to you too' or 'Let's make it a good duel or something' but I guess she wasn't in the mood. But still, there's something unsettling about all this."_

Ayumi- 4000 LP

Jurou- 4000 LP

"Draw!". Ayumi drew her first card and started the match. "First, I play the Quick-Play Spell, Hand Destruction. We each have to send two cards from our hand to the graveyard and then draw two cards afterwards."

As the magic card was played, Ayumi and Jurou both picked up two cards from their hands as four swords shot out of the magic card with two going to both duelists. The swords went through the cards they chose as Ayumi sent Dark Blade and Shield Warrior to the graveyard as Jurou sent his own cards too and they both drew two cards from their decks.

"I'll place a monster facedown and set this card facedown as well. I'll need my turn with that," Ayumi said as one card materialized horizontally in front of her with another card behind it,

Jurou looked at the facedown and quickly asked, "Hey, don't tell me you're really planning to play defence all day, or is it that you actually have a deck under the restriction I set."

"And what if I do," the girl said quickly with an unflinching look in her eyes.

The crowd started to murmur thinking about the cards that must be in her deck right now. Hikaru looked around and saw that a few other people were starting to cluster around now to watch.

"Great, Jurou's up to the usual," another boy mentioned to his female friend.

The female friend whispered back, "Yeah. I heard today he's really started to get more annoying, more than usual I mean."

Jurou has a look of disbelief for a moment but chuckled loudly and said, "Wow, you must be pretty stupid or something. Well, then this won't be a very long duel." Jurou drew a card as he looked at his opponent. "This duel's over before it started but if you insist on dueling like this, I play Ancient Rules."

An old scroll opened up on the field as it contained a picture of a green dragon. "I'll use its effect now. This lets me special summon any Level 5 or higher normal monster from my hand and I've got one right here. Tri-Horned Dragon!"

The scroll fell to the ground as a glowing circle of magic appeared on the battlefield and out of the circle, a large menacing blue dragon appeared with huge horns, claws and spikes growing out of it. (ATK: 2850, Level 8)

One of the spectators looked on, "Jurou might be a jerk but I can't complain when it comes to his deck's power. An almost 3000 ATK monster on his first turn."

"Crush that facedown!", Jurou yelled as the monster moved started to stampede its way over to Ayumi's facedown as the card flipped over revealing a light brown haired female holding a small red dagger (DEF: 1000, Level 4). As Tri-Horned Dragon made its way over, a black shield warrior momentarily appeared in front before a white barrier shielded the two of them as the dragon stomped onto the barrier. Despite the resulting shockwave, the black shield warrior disappeared but the female monster remained.

"I activated Shield Warrior's effect in my graveyard. During this battle, I can remove this card from play and negate the destruction of my monster through that battle," said Ayumi while removing her card from the graveyard as suddenly her monster's dagger ignited itself before Ayumi said what was happening, "Lady Assailant of Flames has a flip effect so when you attacked, my card was flipped over activating it. I remove the top three cards of my deck from play and I can inflict 800 points damage to you." She drew the top three cards of her deck, Waboku, Strike Ninja and Extra Veiler and removed them from play.

Jurou was shocked, "What?".The dagger of fire was thrown at Jurou causing an explosion of flames.

Ayumi- 4000 LP

Jurou- 3200 LP

Ryoko looked at the field and had an idea, "Hey, I think I know Ayumi's plan. She's probably planning to deal direct damage while avoiding battle. Low leveled monsters usually don't have strong ATK or DEF points but their abilities compensate for that."

With a nod, the skinny boy seemed to agree, "That's not a bad idea actually."

"_I've broken down tougher defences and I've got just the cards to do so,"_ Jurou thought while looking at his hand. "I set a card facedown and end my turn."

"I draw", Ayumi announced quietly.

"Just a second there, I activate my Trap Card, Dragon's Rage. This is a Continuous Trap that lets me deal piercing damage if a dragon-type monster on my field destroys one of your defence mode monsters."

Yuushi looked on now knowing that card was trouble and was getting worried. _"Piercing damage is dangerous in this case. Normally, when a defence mode monster is destroyed by a monster with higher attack, the duelist who controlled the defence mode monster takes 0 damage. However, if that attacking monster has a piercing effect, the opponent still loses life points equal to the difference."_

"Now for the Spell Card, One Day of Peace," the girl stated as the card showed the image of a samurai warrior taking off his helmet and resting in a chair in a feudal war tent. "Until the end of your next turn, neither of us takes any battle or effect damage and we both get to draw one card."

Both of them drew a card. "I'll finish with another monster facedown."

Yuushi sighed with relief as he realized that Ayumi wouldn't take any damage from the next turn though he knew that her monsters would not be as safe as her.

Jurou laughed as he drew his card. "I bet you're trying to stall or something, Well, you'll run out of cards for that eventually and as for me, I think someone here will love my next move. I play the Spell Card, Cost Down. By discarding Dark Horus from my hand, all monster cards in my hand get their level reduced by 2 until the end of my turn."

The audience started to murmur as Jurou continued on, "So a Level 6 monster now suddenly seems like a good idea to normal summon. So watch this, I summon Prime Material Dragon in attack mode!"

From out of a summoning portal beside Tri-Horned Dragon, a golden dragon appeared emitting a yellow aura as it roared while flapping its winged to stay afloat in the air (ATK: 2400, Level 6).

The skinny boy suddenly got really quiet so that only Yuushi could hear him muttering, "That...was my card. I can't believe he'd use it like that."

Ayumi looked at the dragon with as she seemed worried as did the skinny boy as well who knew the card better than anyone. "That card was my ace monster. If she tries to use any burn spells, they'll just increase his life points and if she tries to destroys a monster on the field, Prime Material Dragon lets that guy discard a card to negate and destroy any card like that."

Hikaru heard this and gasped, "Wait, are you serious? How's her burn and stall plan going to work now?"

"I'm...not sure," Ryoko said speechlessly.

"Even though I can't deal any damage, I can still rip these monsters in half! My Tri-Horned Dragon attacks Lady Assailant of Flames," Jurou commanded. The large blue dragon stomped its way over as the Lady Assailant tried to defend using a hidden dagger but the dragon just flattened her.

"There's more pain where that came from! Prime Material Dragon, attack that facedown!"

The golden dragon opened its mouth as bolts of white lightning shot out destroying the facedown card which was a purple four-armed insect with a cup and ball and a dagger in its hands while its backpack was destroyed too (DEF: 700, Level 1)

The attack resulted in a blast of wind as Ayumi put her arm in front of her to shield her from the dust and impact though thanks to One Day of Peace, she took no damage from either battle.

Despite having no monsters, Ayumi looked up after the dust settled. "You destroyed Magical Merchant which also has a flip effect letting me pick up cards from my deck until a Spell or Trap Card is shown. That card is added to my hand and the others go to the graveyard."

Looking at the first card she drew, it was the Monster Card, Mecha Bunny. Underneath, that was A/D Changer and finally the card under that one was a Trap Card, Full Salvo which she added to her hand.

After that impact, Yuushi noticed that Ayumi didn't seem to be too shocked but had that same expression at the start of the duel. She seemed focused in a way but that unsettling feeling was still there. "He's good. I guess that's what everyone meant by his deck's power."

Looking at the empty field on Ayumi's side, Jurou looked at what remained, there was still a facedown and he still hadn't dealt any damage yet. _"Not bad at all. You duel a lot better than I thought but with that deck you won't beat me. I've dueled a lot of strong opponents and what's better I have all their strength with me, their best cards are in this deck."_

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ryoko said noticing the slight grin on Jurou's face.

"I'm done for now," Jurou concluded.

"Draw!". Ayumi looked at the card she drew and revealed her facedown Trap Card. "I activate Common Charity. I draw two cards and remove from play a normal monster in my hand like Mechanicalchaser. If I can't defend now, you won't mind if I attack will you? I summon Bazoo the Soul Eater in attack mode (ATK: 1600, Level 4). A strange blue gorilla-like beast emerged as it seemed confused at where it was.

"What's so great about that card? Seems like trash to me," Jurou commented looking puzzled.

Ayumi stared at him and replied, "No card is trash. Each card is useful given the proper circumstances. And this card..."

Jurou shook his head and interrupted her, "Yeah. Yeah, I don't care. Just hurry this up. I have a duel to win."

The strange beast moved to the left slightly then back as it started to glow brown. The images of three monsters appeared for a brief moment until they turned into brown spheres of light as Bazoo ate the orbs and chuckled to itself. (Bazoo 1600+300+300+300=2500 ATK), "Every turn, this card's ability lets me remove from play up to three monsters from my graveyard such as Dark Blade, Magical Merchant and Mecha Bunny and Bazoo gains 300 ATK for each one removed this way until the end of your next turn."

Jurou's face showed signs of anger but also a bit of worry as Ayumi continued her turn. "Next, I remove from play the A/D Changer in my graveyard and change Tri-Horned Dragon from attack to defence mode."

Jurou scowled quietly as a short, chubby but serious blue demon raised his flag with the letter 'D' as Tri-Horned Dragon roared with an 'A' over his head when suddenly the blue flag was swung down as the blue demon disappeared with Tri-Horned Dragon going into a blocking position with a 'D' over his head (DEF: 2350)

"Bazoo, attack Prime Material Dragon!", the girl declared. The blue beast opened its mouth as a blue beam shot out at the airborne golden dragon who shot its own golden beam out but the blue beam overpowered it causing the dragon to be destroyed as the blue beam pierced through it.

Ayumi- 4000 LP

Jurou- 3100 LP

Hikaru was glad that troublesome monster was off the field and cheered, "Now you're in business. Keep it up!"

"Told you she was good," nodded Ryoko.

"I end my turn with a facedown," Ayumi finished as another card materialized behind Bazoo.

With his own focused glare, Jurou drew his card. "Useless Level 6, should have never put that in."

Ayumi had a fixated stare as she expressed in a fierce tone, "What do you mean by that?"

Jurou ignored him and continued his turn as he looked at his hand, most of which were Level 8 Monsters meaning that he couldn't summon them easily. "This is what I mean. I play Trade-In. I discard the Level 8 Monster, Tyrant Dragon and draw two cards". He drew the cards and continued, "Let the fun begin, this is how the strong duel! Watch this summon! I activate my Spell Card, Silent Doom!"

The ground started to shake creating a fissure that split the field as suddenly a dragon's claw appeared out of the fissure as it clawed its way backup. The monster was another Tri-Horned Dragon as well (DEF: 2350. Level 8)

Ryoko asked, "Wait, another one? When did he get another one in the grave."

The skinny boy pondered a bit and answered back, "That Hand Destruction must have sent one to the graveyard but that Tri-Horned Dragon can't attack since Silent Doom was used to bring it back."

Hikaru quickly pointed something else out, "This isn't good, he has two level 8 Monsters which means..."

Yuushi closed his eyes, "An XYZ summon."

"I overlay my two Level 8 Tri-Horned Dragons!", Jurou yelled out as the dragons turned into two black orbs as a red portal opened up in the center of the battlefield drawing the orbs in.

"I create an overlay network with these two monsters! XYZ Summon! Show yourself! Thunder End Dragon!"

The portal exploded with blue thunderbolts erupting out forming a blue and grey dragon that roared as the lightning converged on it before finally calming down (ATK: 3000, Rank 8, OU: 2)

Ayumi stared at the dragon commenting, "That must be your ace monster."

"And what an ace it is! See for yourself! I activate Thunder End Dragon's effect!, cried Jurou loudly as another thunderbolt struck down causing a deafening boom, "Once a turn, by removing an Overlay Unit (OU:1), I can destroy every other monster on the field!"

Yuushi hesitantly shouted, "That...what?"

"In the world of Duel Monsters and in life, only the strong are allowed to stay! So take this!"

One of the bright yellow orbs surrounding the dragon flew into its mouth as the dragon glowed blue before raising up its arms causing blue lightning to start shooting out everywhere from its body. The battlefield was struck all around on both duelists' sides as eventually, Bazoo was destroyed by the lightning.

"What an effect," Ryoko acknowledged to the others.

Ayumi opened her eyes to avoid the flashes of lightning but said afterwards, "Guess I'll have to take this direct attack then."

"I attack you directly with the power of Thunder End Dragon!," her opponent announced.

The blue thunderstorm started up again as with a vicious roar, the dragon focused its energy as blue lightning converged and collided in an area all over Ayumi who merely just shielded her eyes with her hands until the attack subsided.

Ayumi- 1000 LP

Jurou- 3100 LP

"One more like that and it's all over!", stated Jurou.

There was a silence though as the crowd didn't say anything but neither did Ayumi herself who just listened to him talk.

"That deck of yours is garbage so I'll see to it that it finds a good home in the trash can where it belongs. Your deck is average I suppose but it just goes to show you that you can take the trash out of the dump but your cards will always just be that, just trash!"

Hearing this, Yuushi wasn't an emotional person but he couldn't help but say, "That's out of line! What gives you the right to say that!"

Jurou just looked over and turned back to Ayumi who was still staring at him, "Because the strong are the ones who win and that's what matters."

"Hey," Ayumi said with a unsympathetic voice, "I'm going to only ask this once, but just why are you doing these things now. I heard that you stopped a while ago and now you're recently just starting to take away people's cards like this again. Is it because of the upcoming academy tournament?"

After a brief pause, Jurou nodded, "Winning's all that matters. There's always winners and losers and I don't plan to lose. Some people like to prepare strategy and deck building before the tournament starts but I prefer a more hands-on approach. People who can't use strong cards don't deserve them anyways."

Almost everyone who heard it felt that was a repulsive set of statements.

Ayumi just drew another card as Yuushi noticed her eyes narrowing with a more serious expression on her face. "Then this duel's over. This will be the end."

She activated a Spell Card as she explain what she would do. "Soul Release lets me remove from play five cards in any graveyard."

A clear blue maiden with rainbow hair appeared above them before radiating a blue light that Ayumi's D-Pad soon started to glow in a similar manner as well. "I remove Hand Destruction, One Day of Peace, Lady Assailant of Flames, Common Charity and Bazoo the Soul Eater."

As the cards went out from the graveyard the girl mentioned something else, "I can remove Soul Release from play in order to special summon Spell Striker from my hand". A small orange humanoid with a sword, horned viking helmet and red cape emerged out ready to charge (ATK: 600, Level 3)

Hikaru saw the warrior and commented, "That card can attack directly and all but that won't do too much."

Ayumi got another card from her hand and summoned it as she said, "I also summon Gren Maju Da Eiza". A black portal appeared in the sky as red demon with wings and a bottom-half scorpion body appeared through (ATK: ?, Level 3).

"Planning to XYZ Summon like me, I thought you said you weren't or are you going to back out now?", taunted Jurou.

"No need to. This card has more than enough ATK. You see, this card's ATK and DEF values are the number of removed from play cards I have multiplied by 400," Ayumi stated.

The fiend monster roared as its attack went up dramatically (Gren Maju ATK 400x15=6000 ATK)

"6000 attack points?" Jurou opened his eyes in disbelief.

The audience was similarly shocked as a few gasped in surprised as the fiend charged up its hand as it started to glow as it was covered in black flames.

"Gren Maju Da Eiza, attack Thunder End Dragon!" The fiend disappeared as it teleported behind Thunder End Dragon before driving its black claw through the dragon's body setting it on fire and destroying it.

Ayumi- 1000 LP

Jurou- 100 LP

"Spell Striker, end the duel!" The tiny warrior ran up to Jurou and did a vertical slash sending him laying on his back in defeat.

Ayumi- 1000 LP - WIN

Jurou- 0 LP

The field returned to the scene behind the recreation building though the duel was over, there was still an ante rule in effect. This alone kept the crowd in place as Ayumi walked over and picked up her opponent's D-Pad and took out his deck before looking through it.

"_No monster below Level 4 and only a few Level 6 and 7 ones with the majority being Level 8 monsters with spells and traps to support that," _she analyzed.

The crowd closed in and watched as Jurou screamed in frustration before slowly getting up.

Ayumi looked around to find the skinny boy and walked over to him as the crowd let her through. "Which cards did he take from you?"

"Doom Dozer and Prime Material Dragon", the boy spoke.

After looking through the deck, Jurou recovered but stayed silently though he was scowling to himself. Ayumi found the two cards and handed them back before walking up to Jurou and giving him back his deck.

She sternly continued, "I won't take any other cards from this deck. But please, stop looking down on both people and cards that you don't find very strong and just remember...," with a gloomy pause she continued, "Winning isn't everything."

She walked away after giving back his deck and Jurou's scowl turned into a demeanor of defeat as he looked down on the ground before giving off a final sigh. The crowd dispersed and started to chatter amongst themselves as they split off again. Yuushi, Hikaru and Ryoko caught up to her as they weren't too sure what to say as the four of them were now outside talking on the streets of Heartland City.

"_Ayumi...,"_ Ryoko thought to herself as she couldn't think of any words to say.

"Even with that sour mood, it was a great duel," Hikaru said breaking the silence.

Ayumi agreed, "Yeah. Thanks for the help though everyone. With all your cards, I was able to win that duel in front of everyone like that."

Yuushi was lost in thought and didn't hear the conversation as they now crossed a street.

"You really went all out on that guy! Right, Yuushi?", Ryoko asked as Yuushi was spaced out still. "Right?"

Yuushi heard her the second time and snapped out of his thoughts while looking around at everyone and simply just replied, "Yeah. You did a great job out there."

Hikaru said, "Yeah and if there was say, a tournament where you duel like that, it'll be a lot of fun I bet."

Ayumi slightly laughed and said back, "Maybe some other time."

"Fine, then you can watch me make it to the top!" Hikaru shouted.

Everyone kept walking but Yuushi went back to his own thoughts. _"There was something about the duel I can't put my finger on exactly. Even on the first day of school, with all those duels she was in, this duel was different. She didn't seem like her usual self as far as I know,"_ he shook his head a bit and looked up at a passing car, _"Maybe I'm overthinking this". _As Yuushi finished his thoughts, everyone was smiling up ahead as he picked up his pace to catch up and see what everyone was so happy about.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4 Preview<strong>

Yuushi: You're excited for that tournament, aren't you Hikaru?

Hikaru: Of course, I should go to the card shop though and see what they have so I can be in top form.

Ryoko: I haven't been to the card shop since the first day of school, maybe I should go the next chance I get.

Ayumi: There's a lot of people here. I wonder why? Wait, a phantom? Where?

Yuushi: Chapter 4: Delta's Card Phantom. Let's see what this is all about.

Hikaru: Phantom? I don't want to get cursed!


	5. Chapter 4: Delta's Card Phantom

Classes were over as Yuushi and Ayumi were packing up ready to head home as people started to head out the classroom doors

"You heading home Yuushi?", Ayumi asked as she was staring at her D-Pad hitting some buttons on it as the screen started to close.

After slinging his backpack over his shoulders already, Yuushi got out of his chair. "Probably. Oh wait, not yet, I have to register for the academy's tournament," he said correcting himself.

She nodded, "Want to go with Hikaru then? I mean he's still trying to pack up his things and we can talk on the way."

Yuushi agreed and the two walked over to Hikaru's desk as he started to cram everything into his bag as he noticed the two and tried to hurry some more. "Come on, come on," he said to himself.

"What are you doing?", Ayumi asked.

"Trying to hurry...and there!", Hikaru sighed as he finished packing his backpack too. "Stupid backpack! I should buy a bigger one so I can just toss everything in."

Yuushi commented, "Maybe if you were more organized and didn't just toss in your lunch, equipment, papers and electronics all over and in random places every time, this wouldn't happen."

Looking up Hikaru answered back, "You guys going to the card shop to register?"

Ayumi replied, "Well Yuushi is, but I'm not going to particpate."

Getting up out of his chair and past the two, Hikaru sighed, "I really don't see why not. It'll be fun and I saw you yesterday, it's not like you don't have the skill to participate."

Continuing on ahead, she muttered to them, "Thanks, but I'm sure."

Hikaru looked puzzled as he asked Yuushi, "What's with her? She alright?"

Shruggling his shoulders Yuushi whispered back, "I guess so. It's her choice after all and besides maybe she just wants to focus a bit more on getting used to the school first."

The three of them starting making their way over to the card shop in the school. They went through the halls and past a few rooms. Opening the door to head another part of the other building, the three looked outside the windows and saw that it was a bit cloudy though a bit of sun shined through. Students were outside talking and walking to their destinations with a few duels going on in the school grounds. They turned the corner to see the card shop but they also saw a lot of students around.

"Lot of people at the shop," Yuushi commented as a few more students went in.

"Probably because of the tournament," a female voice said nearby.

The group looked over to the right and noticed a girl sitting down comfortably at a bench outside the card shop.

"Ryoko," Ayumi said, "You're planning to register right?"

With a nod the other girl said as she stretched, "I will but I think I'm going to wait for the crowd to fade away a bit. I'd rather not fight through that many people."

"But what if they're buying some cards to get ready. Oh man, I need to get ready and if they buy all the good cards, then I need to hurry up," Hikaru reasoned as he started to go through the crowd.

"Hikaru, wait a minute, there's...", Yuushi tried to reason with him but Hikaru already went in as Yuushi sighed and went in too. Ayumi and Ryoko quickly followed them as they made their way in.

Inside the card shop, it wasn't as packed as they were a lot of people in the registration line but there was just as many people crowded around two individuals. One was an upper year student and the other appeared to be a first-year. Hikaru walked over to the counter to see what cards he could buy as Yuushi, Ayumi and Ryoko walked over to the people around the two students.

"Really? Come on, that can't be right," a female voice in the crowd said.

"But that's what they said," her female friend answered.

They made their way through the crowd and saw that the two students were being questioned by a lot of people.

The younger boy stammered, "I..I'm telling you it's true. We saw some sort of phantom-like person. He had a white mask, a black cane and a hat just like in the rumors you hear about haunted buildings."

"This wouldn't have happened if we just dueled at my house but no, you wanted to do it here then buy some cards before the store closed. Well, not only we were late but that creepy person showed. Good thing we bailed or he might have taken a few of our cards," the older boy added on.

Another person quietly said, "Hey, I heard about that too. I guess it's more than a rumor."

Yuushi was curious now and started to head to the two and talk to them, "You said something about a phantom?"

The older boy responded, "Yeah. My and my brother here were dueling a bit late here at school when we heard a strange noise. My little brother got a bit lucky and won our duel and then we investigated. The card shop doors were open and we saw this strange masked person taking cards. We went to duel them but then all these noises happened and soon as we knew it, we lost and well we ran."

Ryoko wanted to know more, "Anything else? Patterns, habits, anything you noticed?"

"We were sort of scared but that ghost talked about rare cards a lot. We couldn't hear much under its mask but I know for sure it talked about rare cards," the younger boy continued, "Our guess is that it went to the shop to take the more rare cards."

"Anything else?", Ayumi asked.

"No. Like that's all we know. We were sort of scared so we rushed out of school with all our cards and after asking the short-haired manager lady over there in the green earrings, she said no cards were taken so that's a relief."

"Thanks," Ayumi said with a smile as more people were crowding around the two.

As the three walked away, Ryoko questioned the two, "What do you think about the story?"

"What story?", Hikaru said looking happily. "You guys should sign up, the line is a lot smaller now. Took me a while but I got in."

"A story about ghosts. The school might be haunted or something," responded Ayumi.

"Oh...oh, come on, there can't really be a ghost...right?" Hikaru answered while stuttering a bit.

Ryoko started to think outloud. "Well, I don't think there's one but it would be exciting, wouldn't it?"

"You never know. There might really be a ghost and if there is, I want to see it," Yuushi quickly said. "Like you said, I think it would be exciting. Well, they didn't say ghost, they said phantom."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Hikaru shouted but then toned his voice down.

With his own thoughts, Yuushi disagreed, "You see, ghosts I think are more like the walk-through-the-wall ghosts but they used phantom and they even said this individual had a mask, cane and hat. That would be more like the Phantom of the Opera-type phantom.

Ayumi admitted to herself that while it might not be logical to have ghosts wandering around, someone like that might not be too farfetched. "Yeah. But I wonder why they're doing it and why they didn't take anything."

Continuing his opinion to the others, Yuushi looked at them. "I think I might want to investigate. Who knows what could happen but it's something I think is worth checking out."

"Sure. But I'm going to go home first actually and do some research on these ghosts or phantoms or whatever and tell my parents where I'll be. You guys should probably do the same," suggested Ayumi.

"I'll be in the library doing some homework so I'll be here a bit later than usual. Can't see the harm in staying a bit longer anyways. Count me in," Ryoko enthusiastically added.

"I...I...alright, I can't just let you three get into trouble. Haha, ghost or not, I'll...," Hikaru was struggling to get the words out.

Yuushi noticed his nervousness and interrupted, "You scared of ghosts or something?"

"What? No?," Hikaru shouted but everyone looked at him as he quieted down in embarrassment, "I'll prove it. When I find that ghost, it's history."

"So how about we meet outside a bit before the card shop closes. It'll be like that student's story. I figured if we replicate the conditions that he saw the phantom, we'll be more likely to meet it," Yuushi suggested.

"Can't wait," said Ayumi while already starting to look up information on ghosts and phantoms on her D-Pad as the four went their own ways.

* * *

><p>Later that night, at about 5 PM, another bell rung in the school as the clock at the entrance of the school sounded its bell. Outside the school was Yuushi and Hikaru and waiting on Ayumi and Ryoko as Yuushi looked up and noticed that it got much cloudier now as a few raindrops started to pour down slowly increasing in rate as the rain fell faster and faster.<p>

"_Just going to go in, walk around a bit, then that's it. Just the same as a normal day,"_ Hikaru thought to himself.

"We'd better head inside before we get soaked out here. We'll wait by the door and when Ayumi or Ryoko shows up outside, we'll head outside and let them know we're here,"Yuushi advised.

They headed inside and though outside was dark and rain was pouring, the inside of the school still had the lights on which relieved Hikaru. They walked around to the card shop and noticed it was closed and walked back as they sat by a nearby bench.

"So, uh, about ghosts, there's...there's something creepy about them right?", Hikaru asked.

"If you mean the tales about them haunting places or cursing people then I guess that's creepy. But at least we have the place to ourselves and no one will be bothering us," Yuushi sighed as he sat down.

Looking around nervously, Hikaru seemed shaky. "Curse, you don't mean..."

As he talked, the lights suddenly went out as now inside was as dark as outside as Yuushi got up to look around. It seemed as the lights in the whole school went out as Yuushi calmly sat back down.

"What? Ahhh!" Hikaru shouted as he ran to entrance door of the school trying to get out. He was about to push the door open when suddenly, the area outside the door lit up. "It's a ghost!", Hikaru yelled as he quickly backed off from the door.

The door opened as someone walked in.

"Great, I didn't bring an umbrella or anything and it was so dark. Can't believe this rain," Ryoko complained as she turned off and put away her flashlight.

"Hey Ryoko, you know where Ayumi is?", Yuushi questioned her.

"According to her last message, she said she would be here pretty shortly. I thought Ayumi would be here already. She did however do some research and did find an interesting story about a Card Phantom at the school."

Yuushi wanted to know more. "So, what did she say?" As they asked the question, they heard footsteps nearby as a door opened and the two turned their heads to see Hikaru trying to sneak outside. "Hey Hikaru, you'll miss the story if you step outside."

Nervously chuckling, Hikaru replied, "No, that's ok. No need to yell over this rain and let me hear it, you two can talk and..."

"Don't tell me you're scared of ghosts," Ryoko teased back.

Stammering on, Hikaru retorted, "No! I'm not scared of anything! I'm perfectly fine!"

Yuushi was a bit shaken by the loudness of his voice, "Calm down, we're just looking for some sort of weird looking thing. No need to yell over it. Just find the person with a mask, hat and cane and then just go from there."

"Do ghosts negotiate?" wondered Ryoko.

"You mean someone like...me?"

"Who...who's there?" Yuushi yelled.

After a few footsteps, they noticed someone on the way. The person had a veil of cloth over their face, a hat and a cape. Through the darkness of the hallway, the cape was the most distinguishing feature as this person walked slowly up to the group. With a stare up, they didn't see the person had a face since the veil was covering it.

"Whoa! Whoa!", Yuushi shouted as he stepped back a bit.

Ryoko was shaking in place as well as they heard a stampede of footsteps suddenly followed by screaming as both the footsteps and screaming faded eventually.

The individual walked up and took off their cape, veil and hat as Yuushi and Ryoko sighed with relief.

"Don't scare us like that. I thought you were the phantom or something," Yuushi said trying to regain his composure.

Ayumi put the clothing away and laughed. "Sorry, I know it wasn't the best way to show up but I figured since everyone's mood was a bit down, I'd try to cheer them up with this. I couldn't find a cane though but that was good enough, especially for Hikaru who just ran down the hall."

"Trying to scare us to death or something?", Ryoko said as she sat down by a wall.

Sure enough, the three looked around and Hikaru was nowhere in sight. After a bit of rest, the three suddenly heard a loud crash followed by what sounded like shackles clanging as they heard another series of sounds.

"Just like that guy said," Yuushi calmly said trying to figure out what was happening.

Another crash later, Ryoko deduced something, "I bet it's coming from the card shop."

"Yeah, if it's like what I researched this is a Card Phantom who has come for its revenge against duelists. I'm not sure why this person chose Delta Academy for its revenge but I guess that at least someone's here," Ayumi pointed out.

"We're not going to figure out anything here. Come on, let's see what's going on. Maybe we can find Hikaru on the way," Yuushi said.

They got up and started to make their way through the hall. Outside showed no signs of rain stopping as they were closing on the shop as they heard the echoing of footsteps once more. Their own footsteps stopped as they started to make a plan before entering.

Ryoko asked the others,"So now what?"

"I'm going to check it out," Yuushi said.

"Then I'm going too," Ayumi also added.

The group saw the card shop and sure enough, the door was open and they heard some rattling inside.

Yuushi observed the situation, _"Doesn't look like a forced entry. The alarm didn't go off, the lock doesn't look picked, no windows were broken..."_

The girls already snuck around the corner as Yuushi quickly joined them. They entered the card shop as they didn't hear any noise anymore and the card shop was arguably darker than either the cloudy outdoors or the school with no lights. The card shop was pitch-black thought they could see a bit around themselves but couldn't make any detailed observations.

"Just take it nice and slow," Ayumi whispered to the others.

"But we can't see anything here. Time to take a closer look," Yuushi murmured back as he started to duck down a bit.

Ryoko was about to follow as well when suddenly Yuushi's hand hit one of the nearby cases causing something to slide off. The noise was definitely discernible as suddenly the door behind them closed itself.

"_What now?",_ Ryoko thought looking around.

Yuushi turned around for a moment and then someone else came out. Sure enough, the description matched. The person had a white mask, a black cane and a black hat.

"_No point in hiding now. I think that person knows I'm here. Still, how did that person close the door so fast. Well I guess this person has been here before but still...",_ reasoned Yuushi.

Standing up, he quietly walked over to the Card Phantom. Judging by size, he actually seemed shorter. Secretly though, he was glad that it was a person dressed up rather than a supernatural phenomenon but was a bit disappointed too. Yuushi was talking a defensive stance walking for this individual to make the first move. Ryoko tried to force the door open but the door was locked as she struggled and hit it a few times.

"It won't open." Ryoko noted as she stopped trying to open the door.

The Card Phantom approached Yuushi as its eyes started to glow and it pulled out a D-Pad. "Duel me..."

Ayumi panicked a bit seeing the glowing eyes but reasoned that it was likely this person's D-Gazer except just modified a bit. She pulled out her own D-Gazer and D-Pad as Yuushi was getting ready to duel. After a few moments, she shouted, "Yuushi, that person is definitely human! Those glowing eyes have a wavelength similar to my D-Gazer so I bet that's just a modified D-Gazer, maybe like lenses of some kind."

With a nod, Yuushi got ready to duel as the Card Phantom intervened. "Rare Card..."

At first, Yuushi was startled but since this individual talked a second time, he noticed something. The individual was actually masquerading using a deep voice so he guessed that this Card Phantom was actually a girl disguising herself. "I don't know what you want but if you want to duel, then that's fine. But why are you taking rare cards?"

"You won't be going anywhere for a while."

Though that didn't answer Yuushi's question but he wanted to duel. In the back of his mind as the AR Vision Link was being established, he thought, _"Rare card? Does this person know about my Arcanite Magician? Well, maybe I can get some answers if I duel."_

Elsewhere Hikaru was in another part of the school. He opened the door to a small room and ran inside with his back against the wall looking at the only entrance to the room. With the image of the no-faced phantom in his mind still, he panted with exhaustion as he slowly started to make his way back.

"There's no way that was real. Like I said earlier, just another ordinary day at school except with the lights off," the boy said to himself still panicked. "I just need to take a few minutes and rest. Then I just need to find the others and everything will be alright. Yeah, that sounds good."

Back at the card shop though, the duel started between Yuushi and the Card Phantom started as their Duel Disks were getting ready. Ryoko and Ayumi also had their D-Gazers on and were watching the duel as well.

"Duel!"

Yuushi- 4000 LP

Card Phantom- 4000 LP

"Scared, duelist?" the Card Phantom asked as she drew a card.

"Hey, you're only talking half weird now," Yuushi said relieved. "I'm a bit scared but I'm more curious right now if anything. How about if I win, you tell me who you are. You're probably a female judging from the way you're trying to hide your voice."

"Curiosity," the Card Phantom muttered as Yuushi barely heard her as his opponent gave off a slight chuckle.

Yuushi was trying to gauge her facial expression but the mask made it difficult so he quickly looked at his hand. _"Well, this hand could be better. I can't use Endymion but still I'll have to come up with __something on the go. Have to use what I got," _he thought to himself

"Monster defence mode," the Card Phantom said quietly as a card materialized horizontally in front of her field. "Set two cards." After that two more cards appeared facedown behind the horizontal card. "No attack on first turn. Your turn, curious boy."

"Draw!"

Yuushi drew his card and looked at the situation on the field. _"I don't know what type of deck this person has or what will happen but with those two facedown cards and a monster, a direct attack might not be the smartest thing. Still, I'll have to go with things. Rapid-Fire Magician has a great effect but as things stand I can't use it to its full potential. Oh well, here goes."_

He reached over for his second-to-the-left card and announced his move, "I summon Rapid-Fire Magician in attack mode". A card appeared in front of Yuushi as a light-purple haired magician appeared holding two silver-brown staffs with one having a yellow orb at the end and the other with an orange orb (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

"Go Rapid-Fire Magician, attack that facedown card!", commanded Yuushi as more staffs each fired out a yellow and orange ray at the unknown card which flipped over. It revealed a brown ghoul-like creature with yellow bone armor and a sword (DEF: 1050, Level 4). The rays collided with the sword as the rays went through the sword and even through the opposing monster destroying it.

"Goblin Zombie effect," the Card Phantom noted while looking through her deck and showing Yuushi another Goblin Zombie. "Zombie with 1200 DEF or less from deck to hand when this card goes from the field to the graveyard," she said trying to sound eerie.

Yuushi went along with things and continue his move. "I'll set these two cards facedown just like you did last turn. I end my turn". _"I wasn't able to maximize my damage this turn but next turn, I think I can do some real damage."_

"Show that freak!", shouted Ryoko.

Ayumi looked a bit puzzled trying to judge Yuushi's last turn. _"Rapid-Fire Magician had plenty of chances to activate its ability, so why didn't Yuushi use it?"_

Both Ayumi and Ryoko watched the two and it seemed strange since the area was suppose to be dark but thanks to AR vision, things weren't that bad.

"Where do you think Hikaru went?", Ayumi pondered to Ryoko.

Ryoko sighed and stated, "Well, maybe he'd be here if you didn't scare him half to death."

"I'll apologize when I see him again. At least he isn't locked in like us," Ayumi mentioned as a counter-point.

"Draw," said the Card Phantom while laughing out loud. "True terror has come for you."

She summoned a monster as an unknown fog started to surround the battlefield as Yuushi started to wonder what was happening, both about the Phantom's warning and this sudden change in the environment. The fog got heavier and heavier as Yuushi really started to notice that the area was dark too. Suddenly, a figure appeared on the battlefield. It was tough to make out but after the fog lifted a bit, Yuushi saw a human-like figure wearing cloth clothing except it had a strange aura around it as it wielded a giant spear (ATK: 2000, Level 5). Yuushi noticed the spear wielder but was shocked by how it got onto the field.

"You have monster. Special summon Hellfire Spearman- Ghost Lancer from hand. Now, normal summon Goblin Zombie."

Through the mist, a second Goblin Zombie appeared as it swung its sword ready for battle (ATK: 1100, Level 4).

"Spell Card, Foolish Burial," moaned the Card Phantom as a Spell Card appeared on the field. A gravestone suddenly appeared on the battlefield as the Card Phantom looked through her deck. "Monster from deck go to graveyard".

The Card Phantom got a card and sent it to the graveyard as the gravestone suddenly had writing appear on it.

"Plaguespreader Zombie," Yuushi read quietly to himself.

"And you will see its terror," warned the Card Phantom as she continued. "Plaguespreader Zombie effect. Send card from hand to top of deck and special summon Plaguespreader Zombie from grave."

Sure enough, the battlefield started to shake as near the gravestone, a large purple fist popped out as an undead purple zombie with tattered clothes emerged from the gravestone (ATK: 400, Level 2 Tuner).

"Trap Card open. Powerful Rebirth"

"This won't be good," Yuushi said as he understood what that card did.

The Card Phantom smiled, "In the graveyard, Level 4 or lower monster returns with no effect but the monster gains one more level than its original. Revive to the field, Goblin Zombie."

Like with Plaguespreader Zombie, from below, a sword scattered the ground as the first Goblin Zombie returned to the field beside the other one (ATK: 1100, Level 4+1=5).

"Now, Synchro Summon," said the Card Phantom while Plaguespreader Zombie leaped into the air and turned into two green rings while the Level 4 Goblin Zombie jumped as well. The two rings surrounded Goblin Zombie as it glowed while a flash of black light covered the battlefield.

"Tuning Plaguespreader Zombie to Goblin Zombie. In the shroud of the night, darkness shows itself once more through the mist. Synchro Summon. Revived King Ha Des!". As the black light fades into darkness, a robed red-eyed grey creature appears with its hand in the air as Yuushi first sees the black and gold crown it's wearing on its head (ATK: 2450, Level 6).

Ryoko seemed a first appalled at the creature but still was worried for Yuushi. "Revived King Ha Des lets all the phantom's Zombie monsters negate the effect of Effect Monsters that they destroy by battle right?"

"Yeah," Ayumi nodded. "Plaguespreader Zombie will be a bit more difficult to bring back though since when it revives itself using its own effect, it gets removed from play."

"Destroy Rapid-Fire Magician," ordered the phantom as Revived King Ha Des's hands started to emit a black light as suddenly black mist surrounded Rapid-Fire Magician as it engulfed him as the mist disappeared but Rapid-Fire Magician did as well.

Yuushi- 3150 LP

Card Phantom- 4000 LP

"Attack that boy directly."

"Watch out!", cried Ayumi as she was hoping that he would be able to stop it.

With those orders the Ghost Lancer burst forward approaching Yuushi as he revealed one of his set cards. The Ghost Lancer thrust its spear forward as a barrier surrounds Yuushi from out of nowhere as the spear thrust is deflected off and the Lancer retreats back.

"If that's the case, I'll use Defence Draw. Thanks to this all the damage I would have taken from that battle is reduced to zero and I get to draw a card," Yuushi told his opponent while drawing a card..

"Direct attack, Goblin Zombie", said his opponent as the Goblin Zombie leaped into the air and slashed down causing Yuushi to fall to his knees.

Yuushi- 2050 LP

Card Phantom- 4000 LP

Yuushi started to recover as the Card Phantom announced something about that last attack. "Goblin Zombie deal damage. You send top card of you deck to graveyard. Now!"

Doing what she said, Yuushi sent Magician's Circle from his deck to the graveyard as the turn continued with the Card Phantom laughing.

"What's so funny?," Yuushi asked but knowing that it couldn't be any good for him.

"Overlay Level 5 Goblin Zombie thanks to Trap Card and Level 5 Hellfire Spearman- Ghost Lancer."

Goblin Zombie and the Ghost Lancer started to glow black as they turned into black sphere of light. A red vortex opened up as the two black spheres turned into black rays being shot into the red vortex.

"I create overlay network! XYZ Summon! Ghastly Phantom!"

The fog around the dark battlefield started to get heavier as suddenly a transparent cloaked humanoid appeared with a scythe in hand. Even as the fog started to clear, this individual was still transparent with a black outline and a hood covering its face (ATK: 2400, Rank 5, OU: 2).

Ayumi said to Ryoko as the two got closer to the duel to get a closer look at that card, "Why do you think she summoned that card now? The battle phase is over already but there's probably a special ability it has."

Ryoko admitted that she had a point, "We'll have to see then. But still, a Synchro Summon and an XYZ summon in the same turn is pretty impressive."

"Remove Overlay Unit from Ghastly Phantom (OU: 1) for ability," the phantom announced confidently.

A black sphere was absorbed by the scythe of Ghastly Phantom as it sliced an area in front of it leaving a black line in the air. At first nothing happened but then after a slight shock, the black line opened and revealed itself to be a portal in which a transparent version of Rapid-Fire Magician appeared on the Card Phantom's side of the field (DEF: 1200, Level 2).

Yuushi seemed confused but looked at the apparition as his opponent clarified what just happened. "Ghastly Phantom. Summon Ghastly Token only when opponent monster destroyed in battle. Token ATK and DEF equal to that monster. Turn end."

"My turn! I draw!"

"_I'll risk everything this turn. The cards in my hand and field won't let me play a long game so there's no sense in hiding it. The card from Defence Draw is good. If I can't end it now, I might not be able to win since I'll be using most of my hand this turn. Zombie-type monsters usually have high ATK and swarming power but their defence on the other hand is a bit low. Hopefully I can bait that facedown with this," _Yuushi tried to strategize looking at his hand and his new card. "I reveal my Trap Card, Pitch-Black Power Stone. For now, it only gains three Spell Counters (Power Stone SC: 3)."

_"Guess she didn't fall for the bait, but if that's the case",_ thought Yuushi as he started his big move. "I summon Magical Exemplar in attack mode."

A dark turquoise-haired priestess wearing teal robes and white gloves appeared on the battlefield (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

Showing a Spell Card to his opponent, he declared his next move. "Now since I have four cards in my hand, I can activate this Spell Card, Into the Void. I can draw one card but at the end of my turn, I have discard my whole hand to the graveyard."

A blue aura surrounded the cards in Yuushi's hand as he drew another card with a blue aura while above him a black-green portal opened up as the portal also started to glow blue as well. The Card Phantom was a bit bothered by the move as she knew that the card carried some risks to it. Magical Exemplar though generated two glowing orbs which surrounded it (Exemplar SC: 2).

"What is this?", the Card Phantom questioned.

Yuushi went into detail on the orbs. "When a Spell Card is activated, Magical Exemplar gains two Spell Counters. Additionally, once per turn, I can remove any number of Spell Counters from this monster to special summon a Spellcaster-type monster in my hand or graveyard whose level is equal to the amount of Spell Counters removed by this effect."

"_Bringing out my destroyed monsters is annoying. Although Revived King Ha Des has more attack, it has a weakness I can exploit later on. I need to make sure the way is clear though and that Ghastly Phantom is in my way."_ Moving on with his turn, Yuushi played another card. "I activate a Spell Card, Dark Core. By discarding Endymion the Master Magician from my hand to the graveyard, I can remove from play any faceup monster I want, like your Phantom. So see you later."

"It won't be that easy!", shouted the Card Phantom as suddenly black-blue lightning surrounded Ghastly Phantom before it was engulfed in a dark sphere as the lightning collided with the sphere causing it to implode in on itself.

The dark sphere disappeared in a gust of wind as from behind the sphere in the black mist, another image appeared. It had a scythe and a cape as everyone recognized it.

"What the...," Yuushi tried to say while amazed that the monster somehow survived as a Trap Card on the Card Phantom's side of the field disappeared..

"Phantoms don't fade away that easy, boy. The Dark Illusion Trap negates Spell, Trap or Monster Effects that target a Dark Monster."

"Hey you must be really getting into this duel. You don't sound all strange now."

The Card Phantom didn't say anything but Yuushi played another card. "I like Spell Cards so here's another one. I play the Spell Card, Shield and Sword. Zombie-type Monsters are powerful but many of them have low DEF values. If I can't get rid of Ghastly Phantom, I can still get rid of the Card Phantom. Shield and Sword reverses the original ATK and DEF of all faceup monsters on their field.

"What...", his opponent was shocked but then a strange field of gravity hit the battlefield as waves shockwave shot out from the center of the battlefield causing a strange effect to take place (Phantom ATK: 2100) (Ha Des ATK: 0) (Ghastly Token DEF: 1600) (Magical Exemplar ATK: 1400).

Another two orbs surrounded the Examplar as Yuushi's expression changed a bit (Exemplar SC: 4). "Now return to the field, Rapid-Fire Magician!" The four orbs of light around Magical Exemplar were shot into the sky as a light of ray shot down onto the field beside Magical Exemplar as Rapid-Fire Magician emerged (Exemplar SC: 0) (Rapid-Fire ATK: 1600, Level 4).

"This is a great card but you must be interested in its ability so why don't I just show it to you," the phantom's opponent announced. "I play the last card in my hand, the Spell Card Magicians Unite. When there are at least two Spellcasters on my side of the field, they pool their power into one raising a Spellcaster's ATK to 3000 for one turn but whoever receives this power is the only one who can attack. Since Rapid-Fire Magician hit the field after this card is activated, it is unaffected by the effects of Shield and Sword, unlike everyone else."

Magical Exemplar's hands glow white as a white aura surrounds Rapid-Fire Magician who raises the the staff with the yellow orb as a yellow sphere forms in front of the staff (Rapid-Fire ATK: 3000). With a battle cry, the magician shoots out the yellow sphere at the Card Phantom causing a small explosion.

Yuushi- 2050 LP

Card Phantom- 3600 LP

"When I play a Normal Spell Card, Rapid-Fire Magician's ability activates which deals 400 damage to my opponent. And now, since you have a monster with 0 ATK, I'll attack Revived King Ha Des with Rapid-Fire Magician."

The monster's staff with the orange orb shot out two shots holding crowned zombie in place as another two blasts of orange magical energy were shot out incinerating the monster.

Yuushi- 2050 LP

Card Phantom- 600 LP

Yuushi quickly followed up in an attempt to finish the duel. "I have no monsters to attack but during Main Phase 2, I overlay Level 4 Magical Exemplar and Rapid-Fire Magician."

Similar to before, the red vortex portal opened up as Magical Exemplar turned into a brown ray of energy and Rapid-Fire Magician turned into a black ray of energy being drawn into the portal. The glowing portal exploded as a sleeveless male magician appeared with glowing runes and markings all over his body and arms. Furthermore, a charged scroll is held in his hands.

"The XYZ Monster Flux Magician, appear!" (ATK: 1800, Rank 4, OU: 2)

"I'm in trouble if I don't end this now, so prepare yourself!", Yuushi warned as Flux Magician started to glow slightly and charged energy (OU: 1) (Flux SC: 1). "Once per turn by removing an overlay unit from Flux Magician, I gain 400 LP and an opponent loses 400 LP and this card gains a Spell Counter."

Forked lightning shot out at the Card Phantom as smoke came out of her as she was knocked back a bit while the energy for the attack was transferred to Yuushi.

Yuushi- 2450 LP

Card Phantom- 200 LP

Flux Magician opened the scroll and started reading off it as well. "Since Flux Magician's power can constantly change, I'll do a little something. Also once per turn again, I can remove a Spell Counter from this card and deal 400 points of damage to you (Flux SC: 0).

"But that means...", the Card Phantom started to say.

"This duel's over!" Ryoko shouted excitedly.

"Flux Magician, let's finish this!"

The XYZ Monster raised its finger as energy from the scroll transferred to his finger. A lightning bolt struck his hands as Flux Magician pointed to the Card Phantom who backed away a bit but the lightning was focused and shot at the Card Phantom which knocked off her mask as she fell to the ground.

Yuushi- 2450 LP- WIN

Card Phantom- 0 LP

"Great job, Yuushi!", Ayumi said while everyone gathered together to look at the person who got up.

"Not bad, a one-turn kill," the now unmasked Card Phantom announced.

Yuushi noticed that sure enough, it was a female with green earrings who seemed to be older than him. "Thanks, but it was a gamble. If that went any longer you would have won. I had no cards in my hand and the effects of my Shield and Sword would have worn out at the end of the turn leaving me open."

Ryoko looked carefully at the person and made a realization. "Hey, I know you, you're the manager. But why are you taking rare cards here?"

The manager chuckled and smiled, "Well I'm not really taking cards. I just showed up dressed like this and made a bit of noise. Some students who stay late and see me will try to duel me so I scare them a bit."

"That explains how you closed the door on us so fast, you know the place better than anyone. But what's the point of scaring people?", Ayumi curiously asked.

"The store is new this year so I figured to attract some business, something like a legendary phantom would be great. People would show up to the store interested and buy a few things. With the tournament sign-ups and this phantom thing, business has been great," explained the manager.

"Well, you should work on your acting a bit. For a phantom, you need more practice in your vocals. You sounded like a zombie at times," Yuushi criticized.

"Hey! You might have beaten me but there's no need to say that...but I guess you're right. Maybe I should stop this Card Phantom business," she said with a light sigh.

"Yuushi, see what you did. You ruined her confidence," Ayumi said a bit harshly.

Yuushi smiled a bit, "Hey, that's just the truth and sorry if I did."

The manager chuckled as they talked a bit longer.

Elsewhere, Hikaru saw a flash of light from Flux Magician and started slowly inching his way to the store. _"Oh man, I hope Yuushi, Ayumi and Ryoko are fine. Might be a lot of ghosts over there if anything. Slowly got to get there..."_

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Ghastly Phantom, Rank 5

Dark/Zombie/XYZ/Effect

2 Level 5 Zombie Monsters

ATK: 2400, DEF: 2000

Once per turn, you can detach an Overlay Unit from this card to special summon a "Ghastly Token" (Zombie/Dark/Level 2/ ATK: ?/ DEF: ?). The token's ATK and DEF is equal to the ATK and DEF of an opponent's monster destroyed by battle this turn.

Flux Magician, Rank 4

Light/Spellcaster/XYZ/Effect

2 Level 4 Spellcaster Monsters

ATK: 1800, DEF: 2000

Once per turn, you can detach an Overlay Unit from this card to gain 400 LP and deal 400 LP to an opponent and this card gains a Spell Counter. This card gains 400 ATK for every Spell Counter on it. Once per turn, you can remove a Spell Counter from this card to deal 400 LP to an opponent.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5 Preview<strong>

Ryoko: Guess we solved that mystery. We're pretty good at this.

Hikaru: Uh, yeah. Great job guys! Oh no, an assignment's due now...really?

Ayumi: Ryoko, you're a bit lucky since you're in a different class.

Yuushi: Might as well get some data and...wait Ayumi, where'd you go?

Hikaru: Hey, who are those guys?

Yuushi: Chapter 5: Crisis Tag Duel.


	6. Chapter 5: Crisis Tag Duel

**Figured I should clear something up really fast. Overlay Units are the same as XYZ Materials.**

* * *

><p>Class was reaching its end at Delta Academy as Mr. Yamazaki could sense his class's anticipation. He quickly looked at the time on his D-Gazer and saw that there was about 20 minutes left until the end of class. He figured that the weekend was coming up and so everyone would be more excited than usual to get out of class. The weekend was a nice time for him too but as a teacher, he had to remind his students of one last thing.<p>

"Alright, everyone! I'll end the talk about atoms for the day, but there will be an assignment due when you get back from the weekend!", he said to everyone.

He had talked about the assignment earlier in the week so he didn't feel it was necessary for a repeat so a summary would be sufficient enough. "Heartland City just as any other city in the world is run by a variety of different people. Everyone from the post office, the power plant, the litterbots, the police, the monorail station and many, many more people that I did not mention have a key role in maintaining the city's stability and wonder. Your assignment is to get an idea of what they do and write a quick report as outlined in the criteria. This is not just a job interview so either get someone to explain or research the basic processes behind their jobs. For example, maybe a quick lesson on electricity for a power plant, the mechanics and maintenance of the litterbot, etc. This is a group project since like the city, many people work together to make something great that they alone could not achieve."

The class went on until the bell rang indicating the end of the school day and the start of the weekend. A few students left the class and some went to talk about the upcoming project.

Ayumi looked at Yuushi who was about to finish packing and she stood up out of her seat. "So Yuushi, you have any idea where what we're doing?"

"Well, I did do a bit of brainstorming and I think we shouldn't chose anything purely electricity-based like a power plant since I bet a lot of people will be doing that," was the first thing that Yuushi mentioned that came to mind as he stood up as well.

"What about Heartland Tower? You know the big tower with the heart at the top. I think that's where the city's name came from. Wait, how about the airport," Ayumi mentioned throwing out important locations in the city.

The boy pondered for a moment and answered back, "Those are pretty good places but there's probably going to be a lot of security if we go ask the employees too much. Then again, any place would I guess so never mind that comment. If we did some research online though it might be fine but some first-hand information, in my opinion, would be better."

While Yuushi started rambling to himself, Ayumi took out a bottle of water from her backpack and took a quick few gulps as Hikaru came over and sat down as the desk behind them as the two turned around to address him.

"Hey Hikaru, what did you think of classes today?" Yuushi said greeting the boy.

Hikaru sighed a bit and replied, "Normally I'd be happy that we have a few days off from class but the assignment Mr. Yamazaki gave out, has be a bit worried. I don't even know what to do."

Yuushi nodded and said, "Well, we're sort of stuck too. I have a few ideas but they all have their own positives and negatives to them. Hey, how about you work with us then?"

"Sounds good. I was actually going to ask so thanks, you two. Whatever place you two choose is good with me. Hey, what about the power plant? That should be easy," Hikaru suddenly suggested.

Ayumi finished drinking as she remarked back, "Yuushi didn't want to go there since everyone would be going there. I suppose he has a point since Mr. Yamazaki would probably get a bit bored hearing the same presentation like five times."

"I'm sort of thirsty too," noted Hikaru as he took out his own water bottle.

Looking around the class and on his D-Pad, he didn't find anything that he wanted to do. The post office was really far, the mall is too complex, a park would be hard to write a project on and a chair distributor probably wouldn't make a good report.

"Got any ideas?", the girl asked with interest.

Hikaru finished a drink as well as he put his water bottle in on his desk and started to think. Mr. Yamazaki started to head out the class as well as a few students remained.

Noticing both Ayumi and Hikaru's water bottles, Yuushi had an idea on the location for their project. "What about the water treatment plant, I think it's called the Waterworks? I mean they treat water and water is essential for not just a city but for people right?"

"Hmmm...," Ayumi said to the other two, "It does let people cook, water plants, clean materials and things like that. I think every city has something like that as a matter of fact."

Building off her statement, Yuushi agreed, "And for the more technical part of the report, we can just write a bit about how water is purified of bacteria and other things so that people can use it safely"

Hikaru was happy that they at least had some direction on what to do now. "Sounds good to me. We go to the Waterworks and get some information and then we're good to go."

The three of them decided that the water treatment plant was a good idea and left the classroom. Outside of Delta Academy, the three went to the monorail station and waited for the next monorail to arrive. Yuushi was using his dark-green D-Pad to send a message to his mom telling her where he would be while Ayumi was eagerly awaiting the next monorail. While on his D-Pad, Yuushi looked up a few other things as well and made another call.

"Who are you calling?", she asked.

The boy didn't answer as he didn't hear her so Ayumi just looked stuff up as well on her own D-Pad while waiting. Hikaru on the other hand was nowhere to be seen for a while. A while passed and the monorail started to get into view as passengers got ready to board it. Yuushi finished his call and Ayumi kept looking around and eventually saw Hikaru making his way over.

"I had to tell my family where I was. My sister's coming home late from school too so my parents said that it was good I called. I didn't want them to worry about me coming home late," Hikaru said.

"You have a sister?", Ayumi questioned.

Hikaru smiled, "Younger sister. She plays a lot of sports at school so it's normal she's late. My parents worry about her a bit since she's always out so late, later than me sometimes. Even though I say it's ok, they still worry about the both of us. Sorry about that guys."

Yuushi nodded after hearing a bit about his family, "Don't worry I messaged my family too. Just didn't want you to miss boarding the monorail."

"Then let's head to the Waterworks," the girl added as they all boarded the monorail. "By the way, Yuushi what did you call about?"

"Just made an appointment for a tour. They said that it would be fine since it was close to the weekend but we can't stay for too long. Of course it'll be a small tour so we won't be allowed access to restricted locations but we can ask the tour guide any questions we have," he replied back.

Hikaru chuckled, "That's actually a good idea. Way to think ahead."

* * *

><p>Later on that day, the group arrived at the water treatment plant about an hour later. They walked through a security gate on the way inside. There was a huge building that they could see in the center with a few patches of grass and trees spread out sparingly across the whole plant. Adjacent to the huge building in the center, there were two streams of water on each side as the three made their way to the huge building.<p>

"You think that's where we can try to get a tour of the plant?", asked Yuushi while looking around.

"It's my first time here but I'm guessing the largest building that doesn't look like one of the treatment facilities could point us in the direction we want to go," Ayumi reasoned.

Hikaru started to run to the large building as the others started to speed up too. "Doesn't have any security guards and there's no warning not to enter so I'm going in."

The three made their way across a bridge leading to the doors as the automatic doors opened up. Inside was well-lit with a few chairs, an elevator, a few doors and some people walking around. Some looked like employees and other people looked just like any other civilian as there was a desk with a few employees behind a counter talking to other people in a line.

"Guess that's the line," assumed Yuushi after seeing a few people leave that line and the receptionists at a computer typing stuff in.

Another person entered the line as the three of them lined up behind the guy. The line only had three people in front and two other people dealing with the receptionists. After about 15 minutes, the female receptionist to the right called the three over.

"How can I help you three?", she asked politely.

Yuushi started to answer, "I know the water treatment plant is important to Heartland and..."

"Can we have a tour of the place for our school report?", interrupted Hikaru.

The receptionist started typing on the computer after Hikaru finished and answered back, "Sorry but you have to make an appointment so that we can prepare a bit in advance."

Yuushi interjected into the conversation, "Well, I made a call earlier. Yuushi Sakudo."

After a few keys were typed. The receptionist smiled back. "Oh, sorry about that. You wanted to see the workings of the Waterworks for a school project right? Just remember though, it's just a small tour so you might not get to see everything first-hand but you can ask the guide whatever you want about the plant. You guide will be with you in a few minutes, I'll just message him."

"Thanks a lot," Yuushi responded back as the girl started to type again.

They took a seat at the chairs to the side as about 10 minutes passed. More employees passed through and there were a few others in the line now.

"What questions do you think we should ask the guide?", Yuushi whispered to the other two.

"Damn it, uh how about...what they do and why and stuff like that," Hikaru thought out loud.

On her silver D-Pad, Ayumi looked up information about the Waterworks and found a few pieces of information. "It depends I guess but we should probably at least ask about the basics of water purification and the technique they use. If we can, maybe find a bit more about the machines or whatever they use to measure the water and where the treated water goes."

The sound of a nearby elevator dinged as an employee in his 30s to 40s with short dark-brown hair and a blue Waterworks uniform appeared. He was on his D-Pad as a screen closed before he exited the doors and looked around. He saw the three sitting down as Yuushi noticed he was walking this way.

The employee asked, "Are any of you Yuushi Sakudo?"

"That's me," Yuushi said back.

With a smile, the man introduced himself. "Hi there, I'm Mr. Suzuki. I'm one of the Plant Managers and for a while, I'll be your tour guide. Nice to meet you."

Yuushi, Ayumi and Hikaru introduced themselves as they stepped through a nearby door. Inside the door, the four entered a corridor with several pipes, a few valves and a large green pipe that seemed to traverse the whole corridor. While they did see a few engineers and a few huge containers of water that needed to be treated, they were not allowed to get too close but they got a good view from a clear window above the tanks of water. There were some employees down there running machines and a few motors were spinning as Yuushi, Ayumi and Hikaru looked on.

"This is just the pre-treatment part of the water purification process. Water is a very important source of human life and your friend said you needed to pick a place that is important to Heartland City. Well, I can tell you that this is just as important place a place as any. People need clean water to survive in just about any city or village. Water is used for watering plants, enjoying water-based recreations, supplying fountains, crops and agriculture with needed water and much more," Mr. Suzuki explained trying to be helpful as the group started to make notes.

Hikaru was impressed but not too much since he figured that there would be more employees here. "So that's it? Just clean the water here and that's it? Off to the taps or whereever?", he asked.

The Plant Manager chuckled a bit. "If that was it, this wouldn't be such a huge building. After the pre-treatment part, there's still more diluting that must be done with the proper chemicals. bacteria and then another process of waste disposal afterwards."

Trying to confirm something she saw earlier, Ayumi looked up information on her D-Pad and asked, "Is it true that there's a central computer that controls almost all the valves and machines here?"

With a nod, Mr. Suzuki continued, "That's correct. We have a central computer here at the Waterworks which monitors many activities and certain levels of bacteria and chemicals in the water to make sure that the water is indeed safe to use for everyone in the city."

After a few more questions, the group started to go to the other parts of the water treatment plant so that Yuushi, Ayumi and Hikaru could get more information for their report. About 30 minutes later, they reached almost the end of the tour as Mr. Suzuki was leading them down another corridor to the central computer room. There was a locked door in the way but Mr. Suzuki pulled out a keycard and slid it through an electronic lock near the door on the wall. With a light going from red to green the group started to enter the next part of the plant. At that moment, Mr. Suzuki's D-Pad beeped rapidly as he opened a communication line between himself and an engineer.

"Sir, we need you to come down to the primary treatment section right away. Something's happened to one of the purification tanks and we need your help," the engineer stated.

Mr. Suzuki looked at the other three and thought that they were good enough kids. With the primary treatment section being off-limits, he didn't want to bring them with him but he also didn't want to leave them alone here. Without much time to think, he decided to trust them.

"I'll be back in a second. I have to just check something. Don't move, I'll be right back after I take care of something," he explained while quickly walking back the way they came from.

A while later, Yuushi popped opened his own D-Pad and started looking over the notes he took.

"Yuushi, do we have enough information?", Ayumi asked while putting away her D-Pad and turning off her D-Gazer.

Yuushi looked over the information he recorded on his D-Pad carefully and started to estimate a few things. "Probably. But if we get finish off here, we'll definitely have the info we need and it'll be easier to write about too."

Hikaru wanted to see the information for himself as he started to walk over and look at the words Yuushi typed in when all of a sudden, near the top of the roof, an alarm started to rapidly beep as a red light kept flashing. A few machines stopped as well as the three of them wondered what had happened. Yuushi went up to the door and noticed that it wouldn't open.

"_What the...,"_ Yuushi thought to himself since he was still startled at both the noise and this door not responding to him despite it never being locked. He looked over to the keycard slot and noticed that the light was red, meaning that the door was indeed locked. "I sure hope one of you has a keycard," he said in a somewhat hopeful tone.

"What do you mean by that?", Hikaru said when he also noticed that the door behind them was locked.

Ayumi pulled out her D-Pad and activate her D-Gazer as she started to pull up various programs. "This isn't right...," she said in a somewhat hushed voice as she searched her backpack for a small black device that she inserted onto the side of her D-Pad

Looking on her screen, Ayumi looked at the keycard slot and pointed the device at the slot as various pieces of information started to appear on her D-Gazer. She put the information on a larger separate screen as the boys seemed confused at what was happening.

"That alarm's really annoying me. What's going on?", Hikaru asked the girl.

"Give me a moment...alright let's see. This door is locked for sure, a few parts of the plant seemed to be inactive and the central computer seems to be shut down or something. No...it's a virus or something. Damn it, the computer's not responding to anything," analyzed Ayumi as data kept piling up on the screen.

Hikaru shouted in a bit of a panicked state, "So now what! We need to find a way out don't we?"

"I'll try to open the door here. I won't try for too long since even though the security at Waterworks is a bit light on the inside, it's still probably going to be really hard. There might be a stairwell or something that's not affected by the central computer. You two should go find it while I try to open this," the girl said as she tried to sort through and monitor the data at the door

Yuushi yelled a bit so that Ayumi could hear him over the sound of the alarm, "Alright, I'll contact you through your D-Pad if we find one!"

Ayumi stayed at the door while Yuushi and Hikaru went down the corridor. The alarm kept going off as

the boys went down the corridor. They made a left turn and eventually found themselves at another locked door with a keycard slot.

"No good," Yuushi noted as they went back.

This time from that fork in the road, they went to the right and saw another fork in the road. However, there was also an large door of glass where the corridor split. On the door was a number pad, presumably for a password as well as another keycard slot to the side. Despite this though, the door was open and Yuushi heard some whispering inside.

"I think someone's here," a male voice said.

"You stupid or something? We hacked the computer to lock the doors, the only people here are us two," another male voice said.

Seeing the two of them in the Waterworks uniform like Mr. Suzuki had, Yuushi and Hikaru went through the glass door. The room inside had a few monitors and several stations. The whole thing looked automated as there were many servers and large digital modems. At the front were the two people typing something on a keyboard as a timer showed up on the screen.

"30 minutes?", Hikaru said looking a bit confused.

The larger of the two men quickly inserted something into his D-Pad, a black device similar to Ayumi's except this one had wires attached to it. After a clicking sound, there was another beep with the words '4000 LP' in a box by the timer on the computer screen as he addressed the two boys.

"Guess you were right, Hiroshi. They don't look that tough though," the larger person chuckled.

"What are you guys doing?", Yuushi yelled seeing as they looked and acted suspicious.

The smaller one known as Hiroshi turned around after finishing a few things and similarly pulled out the wired device and inserted it into a nearby slot in the computer. There was another box that opened up by the counter with the words '4000 LP'. "But still, we have to hold out till the timer runs out then it's fine. How about it then kids? A duel sound good to you?"

All the things that happened and the way they talked clued Yuushi and Hikaru in on what was really happening. "You're installing something into the main computer. Is it the virus?", Hikaru said cautiously.

The larger person started to talk. "We have to wait 30 minutes here anyways and guard the central computer so our virus can take effect. On one hand if you defeat us, you can gain access to the central computer and maybe deactivate the virus. On the other hand, you can wait for someone better to duel in your place but do you really have that sort of luxury with all the doors sealed?"

"Basically you're dueling us so that they don't need to duel someone else tougher. On the other hand if we refuse and wait, this tougher person might not even show," Yuushi said trying to interpret the reason they would tell Hikaru and him all this information.

Hiroshi chuckled mischievously, "You ready then? Sai, let's show these guys how to really duel. Tag Duel style."

Hikaru pulled out his green eyepiece D-Gazer and red D-Pad as Yuushi soon followed suit as the two got ready to duel.

"You know how this works right? Even though this is a two against two, for card effects and battle. Everyone is considered an opponent," Sai said as he grinned while looking at his hand.

Yuushi drew his five cards and got ready. "When one side loses all its players, the other side will be the winner."

"D-Gazer, set!", shouted Hikaru

The duelists' D-Gazer all lit up for a moment as they each heard a mechanical female voice, "AR Vision, link established".

"Duel!", they all said while their names and current amount of Life Points were displayed.

Yuushi- 4000 LP

Hikaru- 4000 LP

Hiroshi- 4000 LP

Sai- 4000 LP

"I'll go first!" Hiroshi shouted as he drew a card. "I place a monster in defence mode facedown and I set two cards and end my turn!"

A monster facedown materialized in front of the smaller duelist as two more cards appeared behind the monster.

"It's my draw now! Here I go!", Hikaru yelled as he drew a card as well. "Tch, alright. A monster facedown and I'll also set two cards facedown as well! That's it for me!"

As with Hiroshi, a monster materialized horizontally and two facedown magic/trap cards was placed.

"My turn, draw!" Sai announced as he drew a card from his deck."I summon Deep Sea Diva in ATK mode." A female mermaid with blue clothing, purple gills and and an almost-ant like bottom arose from the card (ATK: 200, Level 2 Tuner) .

Sai chuckled a bit and continued on. "Furthermore, I activate Deep Sea Diva's ability. Right now I can special summon any Level 3 or lower sea-serpent type monster from my deck." Picking up and looking through his deck quickly, the large individual pulled out a card. "I special summon Mermaid Archer!"

A blast of water erupted as a brown tortoise was summoned. At first it didn't look like a mermaid but then it's shell started to spread open revealing a blue haired mermaid inside with a crossbow taking aim in front of it (ATK: 1200, Level 3).

"A tuner, he's going to...," Hikaru said halfway through.

"I tune my Deep Sea Diva to my Mermaid Archer," commanded Sai as Deep Sea Diva dove up into two green rings which surrounded Mermaid Archer as the archer started to glow and turn into three shining lights as a larger light engulfed everything.

"I Synchro Summon, the Dragon of the Deep Seas, Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon". From the light, a large blue dragon made completely out of water appeared and took flight while roaring towards Yuushi and Hikaru (ATK: 2300, Level 5).

"_I was right. Guess he got a Synchro Summon off first," _Hikaru thought to himself seeing the large creature.

"Like Hiroshi, I also will end my turn after I put these cards on my field". Two cards appeared as Sai's turn ended. "Give up yet?"

"Things have just started," Yuushi countered as he started his turn. _"My turn is last out of everyone __here which means that after my turn, everyone can start attacking. But still, that doesn't mean I can't __do some damage right now."_

"I summon Magical Exemplar to my field!"

A dark turquoise-haired priestess wearing teal robes and white gloves emerged out of a white light (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"Now the Spell Card, Terraforming!". Yuushi played the card as a thin beam of light shot out from his Duel Disk followed by a blue shockwave as the whole battlefield was momentarily tinted blue. Revealing the Field Spell, Magical Citadel of Endymion to everyone, he explained what Terraforming just did. "Since there's no Field Spell, I felt that we should at least have one going. Terraforming allows me to add a Field Spell from my deck to my hand."

Following that, Hiroshi noticed that Magical Exemplar cast some sort of spell as two spheres of light were orbiting around Magical Exemplar (Exemplar SC: 2).

"Every time a Spell Card is activated by anyone, Magical Exemplar gets two Spell Counters. Sort of like this...", Yuushi explained while playing another card. "I'll play the Field Spell, Magical Citadel of Endymion."

The ground started to shake as the citadel surrounded the duelists. It looked like an advanced city surrounded by a magical barrier with towers all over the place. Again, another two sphere of light surrounded Magical Exemplar making it a total of four lights now (Exemplar SC: 4). "I activate Magical Exemplar's other ability. This turn, by removing all four Spell Counters, I can special summon a Level 4 Spellcaster from my hand like my Blast Magician!"

The four spheres of light around Magical Exemplar were shot into the air and converged together before crashing down to the ground as a turquoise light. Out of the light was red smoke as an individual walked through the smoke. This individual was wearing a red magician's robe and wizard's hat with another purple robe underneath. It was holding a staff in one hand except it had a scythe-like edge as it snapped its fingers holding a fireball in its hands (ATK: 1400, Level 4).

"Alright, Yuushi. You got your Field Spell out!", said Hikaru excitedly

"Tch," Sai grumbled to himself a bit worried.

"I overlay Level 4 Magical Exemplar and Level 4 Blast Magician!"

Magical Exemplar transformed into a brown ray of light as Blast Magician turned into a red ray as both rays of light shot into the sky. A red portal opened up in the center of the battlefield.

"I create an overlay network with these two monsters. XYZ Summon! Come on out, Flux Magician!"

The two rays went into the portal causing an explosion. A magician whose body was covered in glyphs appeared as he wielded some sort of scroll in his hands (ATK: 1800, Rank 4, OU: 2). "I'll use Flux Magician's ability which lets me remove an Overlay Unit once per turn and inflict 400 points of damage to my opponent while I recover 400 of my Life Points! I also get a Spell Counter right afterwards. Sai, I'll have you take the damage!" (OU: 1) (Flux SC: 1)

One of its Overly Units went into his hands as Flux Magician shot out a blast of lightning at Sai causing at explosion at the ground near him.

Yuushi- 4400 LP

Hikaru- 4000 LP

Hiroshi- 4000 LP

Sai- 3600 LP

"For every Spell Counter on this card, Flux Magician also gains 400 ATK," Yuushi said as Flux Magician was surrounded by a slight field of lightning (Flux ATK: 1800+400= 2200 ATK). "I'm not finished yet, I use the second ability of Flux Magician. Once per turn, by removing a Spell Counter from this card, I can deal another 400 points of damage to you Sai."

The light emitted a light as more lightning was shot out from the scroll electrocuting Sai as he staggered back a bit. (Flux SC: 0) (Flux ATK: 2200-400= 1800 ATK)

Yuushi- 4400 LP

Hikaru- 4000 LP

Hiroshi- 4000 LP

Sai- 3200 LP

"I'll end my turn with by setting these two down."

As two cards materialized, Yuushi looked at the timer and got worried. _"I would have kept the extra ATK but one of my facedowns is better off if I use the additional burn effect. Damn it, there's about 24 minutes left. This is a problem. We can't afford to lose this duel but we have to also win pretty fast."_

"I'll be sure to pay you back this turn! I draw!", Hiroshi angrily said and drew a card. "This Field Spell is about to get sunk. First I activate Warrior of Atlantis's ability from my hand. I can discard it and look through my deck for a card...ah, here is it, a Field Spell of my own, A Legendary Ocean!"

After sending the monster from his hand to the grave and looking through his deck, the Field Spell slot opened up on Hiroshi's D-Pad as he put his Field Spell in. The Citadel faded away as a blast of water suddenly engulfed all the duelists submerging them underwater as they looked around. There appeared to be buildings of stone and even a tower of stone all around them as schools of fish started swimming around with the sun shining down on this underwater kingdom (Gishilnodon 2300+200= 2500 ATK, Level 5-1= 4).

"Now I normal summon this card, Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness," Hiroshi told everyone. As he pointed upwards, Yuushi and Hikaru looked up and saw a large creature coming down to the group. It was a huge black and white whale except it had cannons, a docking pad and even a crane covering its top and the sides also had cannons as well ready to fire (ATK: 2100+200= 2300 ATK, Level 5-1= 4).

Hikaru seemed surprised at the appearance of the whale as he started to argue, "Don't you need to release or sacrifice a monster in order to summon a monster like that?"

With a grin, Hiroshi answered back, "Normally yes, but that's why I played A Legendary Ocean. Not only does it give every Water monster 200 ATK and DEF but it also lowers their Level on the field or in everyone's hands by 1."

Yuushi looked a bit mad, "I get it. That means Level 5 monsters become Level 4 and so you can normal summon them since their Level decreased. Of course this makes it harder to summon higher level Synchro and XYZ Monsters"

"You're catching on and this duel will long be over before we need high level monsters. I'm sure Sai appreciates this card too but wait there's more! I'll remove Warrior of Atlantis from the game. Since it was a Water attribute monster, this lets me special summon Aqua Spirit to the field," continued Hiroshi. A green maiden humanoid appeared wearing a green dress appeared from what appeared to be the current of the water (ATK: 1600+200= 1800 ATK, Level 4-1= 3).

"I change my facedown monster into ATK mode! I flip summon Abyssal Kingshark!", shouted Hiroshi as the card's position shifted from horizontal to vertical as a white and dark-blue swordfish appeared. It activated some sort of light on its forehead and started to swim around a bit (ATK: 1700+200= 1900 ATK, Level 4-1= 3).

Pointing at Flux Magician, Hiroshi shouted, "Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness, attack that magician now!"

Yuushi braced himself for the impact. "I activate..."

"I got this Yuushi! I activate a Quick-Play Spell that was facedown, Rush Recklessly!", Hikaru interjected as he revealed one of his facedowns. "This gives Flux Magician 700 ATK until the end of the battle phase."

Flux Magician was surrounded by white lightning as it felt energy burst into it. It flew forward with a palm of lightning in its hands as Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness was still charging up its attack (Flux ATK: 1800+700= 2500 ATK).

Realizing his monster would be destroyed in battle at this rate, Hiroshi wanted to get rid of Flux Magician once and for all. "Fine, then I'll use my Trap Card, Fish Depth Charge. By tributing a Fish-Type Monster, I can destroy your Flux Magician regardless of its ATK points and then draw one card afterwards."

Abyssal Kingshark suddenly charged forward as well at an even higher speed than Flux Magician as it crashed head first into the magician causing an explosion that shook the underwater kingdom covering it in a fog of bubbles

"Looks like a waste of a card," chuckled Hiroshi.

Yuushi smiled as well as when the water bubbles cleared, there was some sort of see-through box containing a chained up gold and black sarcophagus. "Not really, since i activated my own Quick-Play Spell, Magical Dimension. Before that battle took place, I tributed the Flux Magician I had who is now in that case as you see, well that's not true actually."

The sarcophagus opened up and revealed Magical Marionette inside as it leaped out of the box back onto the ground with its dual-wielding sword puppet attached by strings to its hand (ATK 2000, Level 5).

"Since Fish Depth Charge didn't actually destroy my card, you don't get to draw your card. On the other hand, since my Spell Card worked, I can destroy a monster on the field like Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness. This should make your defences a lot weaker," Yuushi said pointing to the whale.

The sarcophagus glowed dark-purple as the whale monster did as well before they both exploded.

With a tone of annoyance in his voice, Hiroshi changed his plan. "If I can't attack Magical Marionette, I'll attack your friend's facedown monster with Aqua Spirit!"

Aqua Spirit shot out a torrent of water as the facedown card showed itself to be a brown humanoid monster wearing fur armor (DEF: 400, Level 3). The torrent of water overwhelmed the humanoid as it tried to stand its ground.

"You just destroyed Laval Miller which lets me send two Laval Monsters from my deck to the graveyard like Laval Coatl and Laval Warrior," Hikaru explained.

After the two monsters were sent to the graveyard, Hiroshi ended his turn.

Before Hikaru started his turn, Yuushi's D-Pad started to go off as he answered it and saw Dr. Suzuki on the other line.

"Where are you kids?", he asked.

Yuushi heard a bunch of people talking in the background "Main computer room. There's two people here who set up a virus. They go by Hiroshi and Sai," Yuushi said.

"That can't be right...," Mr. Suzuki muttered to himself. "But if it is...alright, just hold on. We're on our way. We just have to get past some of these locked doors. The security seems offline but don't worry."

"Is that Suzuki? Haven't seen him in a while," Sai said. "Must still have a good job here as Plant Manager. That's fine though since we just found ourselves a good paying job. All we need to do is finish what we started here."

Overhearing this, Mr. Suzuki started to ask questions, "Start what? What's going on?"

Hikaru yelled frantically, "We got 22 minutes before I'm guessing this virus completely shuts down the whole plant!"

"That won't be good and I don't mean for the Waterworks. It might take a few weeks or something to fix it all but I'm more worried about Heartland in the meanwhile. The city won't have an efficient way to distribute water across the city for that time. It'll be a disaster," Mr. Suzuki tried to explain calmly. "Let's pick up the pace!", he shouted to the people near him.

Yuushi started to give some information to Mr. Suzuki. "Ayumi tried to break through the security herself and open one of the doors. I don't know if this'll help but she's good with electronics so if you need to contact her, here's her information."

"Thanks and good luck on your end," the Plant Manager said before ending the communication line.

Yuushi looked at Hikaru to start his move but he instead started to shout, "How could you guys do this? If the Waterworks shuts down, you know how many people will be affected? Are you guys crazy or something?"

Hiroshi chuckled, "Yeah I used to care like you. After we got fired from this place though, who took care of us. Who started to care for us? I'll tell you who. Nobody! But then someone heard about our old employment here and payed us quite well to do some 'work' here. If the pay's half as good as what we got already, I'll consider this a new permanent job."

Yuushi was mad deep down but didn't say anything as he figured that it would be pointless to say anything more at this point.

"My dad and mom and even my sister, not just them...but for the safety of the city...I promise, I'll beat you both myself if I have to! My turn, draw!", erupted Hikaru as he started his turn.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6 Preview<strong>

Ayumi: How are you two doing?

Yuushi: We need to hurry. Hikaru, you ready?

Hikaru: Of course! There's no way we're going to lose!

Yuushi: Just calm down, don't rush into things.

Hikaru: I know, I know...yeah, you're right. Chapter 6: The Calm and The Passionate.

Ayumi: Good luck, you two!


	7. Chapter 6: The Calm and the Passionate

The Waterworks was still in a state of emergency at Yuushi and Hikaru had about 22 minutes left before presumably a virus would devastate the whole water treatment plant. Their opponents were two former employees of the Waterworks. Hiroshi and Sai who were hired by someone to do this sabotage mission. Hiroshi's Field Spell, A Legendary Ocean, was making it so that the duel was taking place in an underwater kingdom.

Yuushi- 4400 LP

Hikaru- 4000 LP

Hiroshi- 4000 LP

Sai- 3200 LP

Hikaru drew a card and looked at it. "Alright, now we're talking. Similar to that Aqua Spirit on the field, I'm going to remove from play my Laval Coatl in my graveyard in order to special summon Spirit of Flames in ATK mode."

A fiery explosion out of the ground occurred as a red molten humanoid emerged out with steam still coming off its body (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"Here's where I turn up the heat. I summon Laval Cannoneer to the field!"

A pillar of fire boiled through the water causing steam to cover the battlefield. Out of the steam, a large blue, cyborg humanoid appeared with its left hand being a giant cannon (ATK: 1600, Level 4). Suddenly Laval Cannoneer started to prepare its hand cannon as it aimed upward.

Hikaru smiled and pointed to the cannon, "When I normal or flip summon this monster, I can target one of his Laval friends and special summon it to the field. So give a warm welcome to Laval Coatl!"

The cannoneer shot a fireball into the ocean as it seemed to drift when suddenly the fireball ignited itself and crashed onto the ocean floor revealing a small winged bird-like creature with a skinny yellow body walking along the ground (ATK: 1300, Level 2 Tuner)

Hikaru started to get excited now, "I tune Laval Coatl to my Laval Cannonner for this powerful creature."

Laval Coatl lit up before turning into two green rings surrounding Laval Cannoneer as he started to lit up and levitate. After reaching a great height, the lit-up Laval Cannoneer turned into four glowing lights as a pillar of light shot through the rings causing the underwater kingdom to light up.

"In the fires of might, the roar which surpasses all is heard! The union of two forming a blazing path! Synchro Summon, Lavalval Dragoon!"

Through the light was a huge winged creature that roared causing Hiroshi and Sai to be cautious of it. The light faded and revealed some sort of huge brown and orange-red dragon with a brown humanoid riding it (ATK: 2500, Level 6).

A second roar after Lavalval Dragoon appeared challenged the dragoon as the roar came from Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon (ATK: 3000).

Yuushi looked at the Sea Dragon with a grim stare as he expected Hikaru's Lavalval Dragoon to be the strongest. "How did that happen?", he asked.

"You look a bit stunned, Yuushi," Sai said, "Your friend there triggered my dragon's ability. When a faceup Level 3 or lower monster like Laval Coatl is sent from the field to the graveyard, this card's ATK becomes 3000 until the end of the turn."

"No problem, Yuushi. I still have Lavalval Dragoon's ability to activate. Right now, I can add a Laval monster from my deck to my hand then I have to send a Laval monster from my hand to the graveyard. Let's see what we got," Hikaru confidently said as he started to look through his deck. "Got it. I add Laval Burner from my deck to my hand and then I'll send Laval Warrior from my hand to the grave."

After the effect resolved, Hikaru put his deck back into his Duel Disk as it automatically shuffled his deck since a search effect was triggered.

"I think I'll special summon Laval Burner right away. You see, you two clowns, when I have three or more Laval monsters in my graveyard that have different names, I can special summon this card straight to the field. So here comes Laval Burner!", Hikaru shouted while summoning his monster. A large rock creature with flaming hair and large red gauntlets on its hands appeared out of a card and slammed its fists together ready for battle (ATK: 2100, Level 5).

Hikaru announced his attack, "I attack Aqua Spirit with Spirit of Flames! It gains 300 ATK during my battle phase so I don't have to worry about it being weaker than your Aqua Spirit" (Spirit of Flames ATK: 1700+300= 2000 ATK).

Spirit of Flames put out both his hands and despite the area being underwater, a red blast of fire shot out from its hands engulfing the Aqua Spirit and destroying it as the blast of fire continued onto Hiroshi to deal damage. Out of nowhere however, the water around Hiroshi started to deform and twist as it formed spirals of water that negated the fire blast.

"What happened?," Hikaru asked expected some damage to occur.

"I've been waiting for that!," Hiroshi chuckled as he revealed a Trap Card. "I activate the Permanent Trap, Tornado Wall. First off the Field Spell, A Legendary Ocean counts as another Field Spell called Umi and this is where Tornado Wall plays in. You see, with Tornado Wall, when Umi is on the field faceup, I take no damage from any attacking monsters!"

"You're kidding me...," said Hikaru in a stuttered tone but then shook it off looking over at Sai.

Sai noticed Hikaru probably trying to attack him even though he had the stronger monster and smiled suddenly while looking over at Hiroshi who nodded. "Fine then brats, with Tornado Wall you'll never be able to touch Hiroshi but wait, I activate my own Tornado Wall meaning there's no point in battling either of us since neither of us will take any damage from attacking monsters! Then it'll all be over in just a matter of moments."

Several tornadoes of water surrounded Sai and Hiroshi forming an impenetrable wall as Magical Marionette and Hikaru's three monsters looked on.

Hikaru argued back, "What do you mean a matter of time? You can't deal damage to us with that card, you know?"

Yuushi thought about it for a bit and realized their intention after looking at the timer on the central computer screen which was 19:41 and going down. "Those are just cards to stall. They're waiting for that timer to hit 0 and then the virus will be released. Even if they lose the duel but that virus triggers, Heartland City will be in huge trouble and it'll be their victory. There's more to this duel than what's on the field."

Hikaru started to shout and looked at his hand and on the field and saw no card that could stop Tornado Wall, "So what do we do? Just sit here and do nothing! There's no way but...damn it!"

"Exactly!," mocked Sai, "You just sit there and do nothing! Hey, we'll do nothing too if you do nothing and when the virus goes off, we'll just end the duel and take our leave!"

With shaky hands, Yuushi got a bit nervous as well seeing as this duel could last a while. Not only that, but he had no cards in his hand and his facedown wasn't too helpful in this situation. After taking a deep breath, he stated, "This duel isn't over yet! We're going to see this through to the end and stop you!"

"Mouthy kid," whispered Hiroshi but he smirked, "Then try to stop us!"

"_Yuushi's right. We can't give up here. This isn't just a duel for us but for me, it's a duel to help my family and everyone else. That's why, that's why I'll crawl to the top! Since I can't do any damage to Hiroshi, it looks like I'm back to Sai. I'll take out that dragon now since it's got an annoying ability and its their last monster on the field,"_ Hikaru thought to himself after looking at his facedown trap. "I attack your Sea Dragon Lord with my Lavalval Dragoon and its Lance of Flames attack!"

"Are you stupid, kid? My monster has 3000 ATK which could take on an army of your Lavalval Dragoons with only 2500 ATK!," Sai yelled out as Lavalval Dragoon charged in.

"2500 ATK for now," Hikaru remarked as he revealed his last facedown, "I activate a trap! Blast with Chain! Now it becomes an Equipment Card onto my Lavalval Dragoon giving it 500 ATK" (Dragoon ATK: 2500+500 = 3000 ATK). The rider on Lavalval Dragoon's lance got enhanced as chained explosives surrounded it as the spear lit itself on fire triggering the fuse of the explosives. The rider threw the flaming lance as Sai seemed hesitant though their monsters have the same attack.

"_Damn him. If I let that attack go, both our monsters will be destroyed but he has two more monsters ready and if my Sea Dragon Lord is off the field, I can't seal this duel,"_ Sai analyzed. "I reveal my facedown trap, Poseidon Wave."

In front of Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon, a more concentrated wall of water was condensed as the spear collided with the wall of water. The wall was able to stop the spear from going further as the spear exploded on contact with the wall destroying both of them.

"When your monster attacks, I can use this trap and negate that attack. Also, thanks to my Sea Dragon Lord, you'll also take 800 points of damage! Eat this!"

As Sai finished his explanation, a blast of water was shot out from Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon by utilizing its surroundings. The blast of water hit Hikaru who screamed as he was blown back onto the ground.

Yuushi- 4400 LP

Hikaru- 3200 LP

Hiroshi- 4000 LP

Sai- 3200 LP

"You alright?", Hikaru's partner asked him.

He quickly got up and nodded, "It'll take more than that to keep me down! But I'll end my turn and then your Sea Dragon Lord goes back to its normal ATK" (Gishilnodon 2300+200= 2500 ATK).

As Sai drew a card, Yuushi evaluated his current situation. He had no cards in his hand, a Trap Card that wasn't too useful right now and a monster with 2000 ATK which wasn't exactly the strongest card on the field now and its effect was not too useful at the moment.

"_Well, at least Hikaru's doing pretty well. He has the strongest field out of all of us right now. Even if I can last another turn or two, I might not be able to turn it around. No, what am I saying, I can't give up now."_

Sai himself also looked at the field and noticed Yuushi having a decently empty field and pointed to him. "Looks like we'll have our first elimination of this duel! First I summon Ocean's Keeper to the field!". An orange fishman swam from a building in front of Sai holding its three-pronged trident at its side (ATK: 1500+200= 1700 ATK, Level 3-1= 2).

"If you think that facedown will save you Yuushi, you'd better think again! By tributing Ocean's Keeper, I'm allowed to special summon Cranium Fish!". As Sai put the card on his Duel Disk, Ocean's Keeper disappeared in a blue light as another red-orange fish with blue gills took its place as it had sharp whip-like protrusions waving in front of it matching the current of the water. More notably though was that this fish creature had its large yellow brain exposed to the open (ATK: 2400+200= 2600 ATK, Level 6-1= 5).

With another roar from Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon, it emitted a white aura powering itself up with Sai similarly roaring (ATK: 3000). "I bet this looks familiar. My dragon's ATK becomes 3000 since a Level 3 or lower faceup monster on the field was sent to the graveyard."

"Not again!," complained Hikaru who looked at his Lavalval Dragoon being the only other monster on the field that could match his opponent's ATK.

"I'll spare you and your Laval monsters, I'm more interested in that kid there! Now for Cranium Fish's ability! By discarding a Water monster to the grave, I can destroy a facedown card, so let's see what's behind Magical Marionette. So long, Armed Sea Hunter!", chuckled Sai as he sent his monster to the graveyard.

Cranium Fish's brain glowed as it surrounded itself in electricity before its spiky protrusions glowed yellow with electricity and shot themselves at Yuushi's facedown.

"Activate the Trap Card, Ready for Intercepting! I'll use this card to protect myself by flipping a faceup Warrior or Spellcaster on the field to facedown defence mode. Get ready!"

In a crouching motion, Magical Marionette disappeared off the field though its card took its place as the Spellcaster monster was ready to defend.

"You got off easy but I'll make sure you won't be able to get back into this duel!," the large opponent declared as he put a card into the Spell/Trap Zone, "I activate the Spell Card, Aqua Jet! Until the end phase, a faceup Fish, Sea Serpent or Aqua-type monster I control gains 1000 ATK and I give this to my Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon." Attachments materialized beside the Sea Dragon Lord as a pair of turbine boosters and underwater jet wings were attached to its back raising its strength (ATK: 3000+1000= 4000 ATK)

"4000 ATK!," Hikaru cried out seeing a monster like that on the field.

"This is going to sting a bit! I attack that facedown Magical Marionette with my Cranium Fish!"

As Sai's command echoed underwater, the fish monster's cranium charged up again as it shot out electricity from its protrusions. The facedown card was unsurprisingly Magical Marionette which sent its puppet to try to block the attack (DEF: 1000, Level 5). The electricity destroyed the puppet with no signs of slowing down as it hit the Spellcaster as well causing an explosion as Yuushi braced himself for the impact.

"With nothing left, I attack Yuushi with Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon directly!, Sai ordered as the Aqua Jet on the Sea Dragon activated enhancing the dragon's strength. As the dragon's mouth turned blue, the turbines on the Spell Card activated as a blue light was visible before the Sea Dragon Lord fired off a scattering blue blast that pierced through the water. The attack engulfed Yuushi who was sent flying up before crashing down on the ground a distance away.

Yuushi- 400 LP

Hikaru- 3200 LP

Hiroshi- 4000 LP

Sai- 3200 LP

Yuushi struggled to get up as Hikaru watched him take that last attack. "Yuushi!", the Laval duelist shouted out. Eventually the glasses boy got up though his hands started to shake as Hikaru sighed with relief.

"Lucky break! Most duelists would have lost from that! Whatever, you're in no condition to do anything so I end my turn!", Sai said triumphantly. (Gishilnodon 2300+200= 2500 ATK)

Looking down back on his Duel Disk, Yuushi realized he was in trouble since he had no cards in his hand or field.

_He's right though, I'm in no shape to win much less last a few turns. Not only that but with Tornado Wall, we can't deal battle damage to them...So is this it? That's all I can do..." _With a pause, he calmed himself down and continued, "_...no, as long as I'm still in this duel, I won't hesitate. I'll play until my duel's over!"_

After shaking off his doubts, Yuushi's hand stopped shaking as he reached over to his Duel Disk and drew a card. He flipped it over to see what it was and paused for a moment.

"Not the card you wanted?" the smaller opponent added on with fake concern. "Oh, look at that only 15 minutes to go until this whole plant goes down!"

Ignoring his opponent, Yuushi had a determined look as he turned his head to Hikaru. "Hikaru! I'll leave this duel up to you! I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior!"

A card appeared on Yuushi's field as a red armored knight with a red cape and red-golden shield appeared. A sword also appeared at the magical warrior's command as it started to glow red (ATK: 1600, Level 4)

"When I normal summon Breaker successfully, he gains a Spell Counter which gives him 300 extra ATK" (Breaker ATK 1600+300, SC: 1). Breaker raised its sword which began to glow red as it raised its sword so that the blade pointed upwards. "I remove a Spell Counter from Breaker the Magical Warrior to destroy a Spell or Trap Card on the field. Go, Breaker! Destroy A Legendary Ocean!"

The sword emitted a red light that blinded all the duelists as everyone closed their eyes and turned their head away from the red light. As the red flash subsided, everyone noticed that they were back in the central computer room with the timer now at 14:28. (Breaker ATK: 1600, SC: 0)

Sai was visibly angry as he cursed under his breath. "You..."

Yuushi continued his turn, "Since A Legendary Ocean is gone, your Tornado Wall's side-effect triggers so that it's automatically destroyed. Not only does this mean that even if you play another Umi or A Legendary Ocean, you need to rebuild that wall but it means that we can attack you with monsters and you'll take damage!"

With that summary of Yuushi's knowledge done, the Water monsters on the field returned to normal (Gishilnodon 2500-200= 2300 ATK, Level 5) (Cranium Fish 2600-200= 2400 ATK, Level 6)

"Breaker the Magical Warrior, press the advantage and attack Hiroshi now!". With a slash from the sword, Breaker shot out a crescent wave of magical energy that travelled through the air at high speeds slicing through Hiroshi causing him to defend himself.

Yuushi- 400 LP

Hikaru- 3200 LP

Hiroshi- 2400 LP

Sai- 3200 LP

"I end my turn," stated Yuushi as calmly as he could.

Hiroshi quickly mentioned something while drawing a card form his deck and grinning. _"Just need to prolong this duel a bit longer,"_he thought as he gave off a bitter smile. "And this'll be the end of you! I summon Hammer Shark!"

Like the name suggests, a blue shark with a head resembling the edge of a hammer appeared revealing that it also had sharp white teeth (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"_It's got more ATK than Breaker but I'm still in this,"_ Yuushi told himself.

"Now for Hammer Shark's effect! Once per turn during my Main Phase, I'll lower this card's Level by 1 but I can special summon a low level Water attribute monster from my hand so I'll also summon Cannonball Spear Shellfish!" (Hammer Shark Level 4-1= 3)

Four Level Stars appeared by Hammer Shark on the AR vision to the duelists as they turned into three Level Stars. Beside the stars was a light where a pink-orange shellfish appeared with its shell condensed on its head forming a sharp tip for offensive purposes rather than a shell coating its body for defensive purposes (ATK: 1000, Level 2).

"_This isn't good...,"_ knowing that he would be targeted with such low Life Points.

Hiroshi pointed to Yuushi dramatically as he issued his next set of attacks to his monsters. "Hammer Shark, destroy Breaker now!"

Despite having no water in the area, Hammer Shark dove forward at Breaker who raised its shield up to defend. With a swing of its hammer-like head down, the shark collided with the shield only for the shield to shatter on impact as Hammer Shark swung its head again and smashed Breaker's armor causing the monster to disappear in a flash of light.

Yuushi- 300 LP

Hikaru- 3200 LP

Hiroshi- 2400 LP

Sai- 3200 LP

"That's it for you, Yuushi! Cannonball Spear Shellfish, knock him out of this tag duel!"

The shellfish monster dove up into the air before pointing its sharp shell to Yuushi before a burst of air appeared behind it as it rocketed through Yuushi before landing and hopping back to Hiroshi's field. Yuushi was knocked onto the ground from the impact as he landed faceup on the ground below.

Yuushi- 0 LP

Hikaru- 3200 LP

Hiroshi- 2400 LP

Sai- 3200 LP

"There he goes! Down for the count! That leaves you all alone against the two of us!", Sai boasted loudly. "Guess I'll end my turn but the same thing will happen to you soon, kid, so don't you worry." (Hammer Shark Level 4)

"Where's your talk now?", Hiroshi added on.

"I'll get you guys for that! I'll beat you both myself!", declared Hikaru as he started to get more worked up.

Yuushi recovered and looked at the field. Though it looked bad since it was a two against one situation, Yuushi wasn't too worried and clarified his thoughts, "You two aren't in a good position right now."

"It's two on one, I don't know you're talking about but we're in a great situation!", Sai argued back.

"Hikaru, just focus and I'm sure you'll be fine. Just judge the situation accordingly," Yuushi said calmly.

With a slight sigh, Hikaru drew his next card and looked at his hand. He took a small breath and analyzed the situation. _"What did he mean they're not in a good position. It's two against one like they said. That Sea Dragon Lord can also match my powered-up Lavalval Dragoon if a Level 3 or lower monster goes to the grave from the field"._ Looking at the two opponents carefully, Hikaru didn't notice what Yuushi was trying to say and then looked back at his own hand. He took mediated breaths as he made a sudden realization to himself. "Alright, I think I get it."

The other two opponents looked confused but Hikaru started his turn. "I summon Laval Magma Cannoneer!". A person is a very heavy blue metal suit of armor appeared as two huge shoulder cannons were attached on the suit of armor as well (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"I overlay Level 4 Spirit of Flames and Laval Magma Cannoneer", Hikaru commanded enthusiastically.

Both Hikaru's monsters turn into red rays of light as a red spiral vortex portal appeared in the middle of the battlefield drawing the two rays of light in.

"I construct an overlay network with these two monsters. In the searing heat, a burning bond is forged! Flames that ignite the trailing winds! XYZ Summon! Come forth, Lavalval Chain!"

A red explosion triggered as fire surrounded the area where the portal opened. A cry from a dragon was heard as fire shot out before it took the form of a red dragon with light blue armor (ATK: 1800, Rank 4, OU: 2).

"I activate Lavalval Chain's effect. By detaching an Overlay Unit, I can send a card from my deck to the graveyard."

An Overlay Unit was consumed by Lavalval Chain (OU: 1) as Hikaru's deck emitted a fiery aura. Hikaru looked through the deck and sent a card to the graveyard. Suddenly, Hikaru's three monsters all lit themselves on fire as they started to increase in strength. (Lavalval Chain ATK: 1800+300= 2100 ATK) (Lavalval Dragoon ATK: 3000+300= 3300 ATK) (Laval Burner ATK: 2100+300= 2400 ATK)

Hiroshi grunted in frustration, "What, what just happened?"

"I sent Laval Phlogis to the graveyard from my deck using Lavalval Chain's effect which activated Laval Phlogis's effect. All current faceup Laval monsters on my field gain 300 ATK when that card is sent to the graveyard!"

Yuushi cheered as he noted that Hikaru was in a great position now. "You got this!"

Hikaru nodded and resumed his turn, "Before your Sea Dragon Lord powers up again, I'm going to blast it off the field. I attack Sai's dragon with Laval Burner!"

Laval Burner slammed its fists together before punching the ground shattering it before a pillar of fire erupted out of the location Laval Burner punched. The pillar made its way over to Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon before it consumed the sea dragon evaporating it completely leaving behind nothing but steam.

Yuushi- 0 LP

Hikaru- 3200 LP

Hiroshi- 2400 LP

Sai- 3100 LP

"Now for the next attack, I'll use Lavalval Dragoon and attack Hiroshi's Cannonball Spear Shellfish. Go, Lance of Flames!"

A flaming lance from the rider shot of the dragon leaving a red trail of fire through the air as the spear pierced through the shellfish monster and destroyed it. The resulting explosion caused Hiroshi to shield his eyes.

Yuushi- 0 LP

Hikaru- 3200 LP

Hiroshi- 100 LP

Sai- 3100 LP

"Hiroshi!," Sai shouted out in concern.

"Lavalval Chain attack Hammer Shark! Searing Breath!", Hikaru exclaimed loudly.

Lavalval Chain's mouth opened up revealing glowing red flames gathering up inside. The dragon shot out the red flames which spread in a cone in front of it eventually consuming Hammer Shark as it cried in pain. The flaming breath continued past the shark onto Hiroshi blasting him back onto the ground in defeat.

Yuushi- 0 LP

Hikaru- 3200 LP

Hiroshi- 0 LP

Sai- 3100 LP

Yuushi smiled and was impressed with Hikaru. "Now it's just like a regular duel. One against one."

"Fine with me. I'll just play the card I just drew this turn then, the Equip Spell Card, Mist Body! I equip it to my Lavalval Chain so that now it can't be destroyed in battle. I'll end my turn now!", Hikaru declared. The Spell Card appeared behind Lavalval Chain as its body turned into a state resembling steam as the dragon became roughly transparent.

After recovering from the attack, Hiroshi got up and started to panic a bit seeing that he was defeated too. "Do something!," he said half-heartedly.

Sai didn't understand what he was worried about and said, "I can hold out for another nine minutes. I've still got Cranium Fish and..."

After evaluating the situation more carefully, he was speechless. There were no cards in his hand and other than his one monster, there was nothing on the field. Meanwhile, Hikaru had a monster weaker than Cranium Fish though it couldn't be destroyed by battle, another with equal ATK and one much stronger with an ATK boost on it. Also, Hikaru had another Overlay Unit though he also had no cards in his hand.

"You were so busy trying to defeat me that you didn't consider that Hikaru was building up his field. Meanwhile, I just made it easier for him to win this. You wasted too many cards and resources in taking me out," Yuushi stated calmly looking back at the duel.

The large duelist hesitated while drawing a card adding it to his hand. It was a good card for him as he placed set it in the Magic/Trap Zone as slow as he could without being disqualified for stalling. Afterwards, he looked on the central computer reading 8:25.

"_Perfect card. The Trap Card, Negate Attack. Doesn't matter if these brats win the duel as long as we get the virus to go off. I'll just play this card slowly and stall it out then next turn stall a bit more then it's all over."_

After pretending to think and waste a bit more time, he started an attack dragging out as much time as he could.

"I use Cranium Fish and attack Lavalval Chain!", he shouted out.

After concentrating electricity, the fish monster shot the blast out at the steam-like Lavalval Chain causing it to glow yellow as it was hit but Hikaru's monster survived. Though his monster survived, he still took battle damage as a result of Cranium Fish having more ATK than Lavalval Chain.

Yuushi- 0 LP

Hikaru- 2900 LP

Hiroshi- 0 LP

Sai- 3100 LP

After sitting around for a bit longer pretending to come up with a strategy, he looked over at the central computer screen. "I end my turn," Sai announced.

"You're just stalling!." Hikaru yelled out seeing as he had no cards in his hand to think about except his one facedown card.

"Kid, I'm thinking. So shut up," chuckled Sai.

With a mischievous grin, Hiroshi agreed. "Take it easy on him, Sai's a bit slow."

Yuushi didn't say anything as Hikaru yelled back, "That's...!"

Before Hikaru got more agitated, Yuushi replied a bit harshly, "Hikaru, just calm down! They're trying to get you in an argument to waste more time! If you want to hurry, just continue your turn."

Turning his head at the central computer, Hikaru was nervous seeing it at 6:10 now. He drew his card and thought about what to do next. _"I bet he's going to waste as much time as he can. That facedown is probably something to stop my attack or force me to end my turn somehow. I have to get rid of it...I got just the move then."_

"I activate Lavalval Chain's effect and send Laval Lady of the Burning Lake from my deck to the graveyard!"

Lavalval Chain consumed its last Overlay Unit (OU: 0) as Hikaru sent the named card to the graveyard.

"Now for Laval Lady of the Burning Lake's ability in the graveyard. If there are three or more different Laval monsters in my graveyard. I can remove from play this card and a Laval monster from the graveyard to target and destroy one of your facedowns. Since there's only one, I'll destroy it!". At that moment, the Laval duelist removed from play both Laval Lady of the Burning Lake and a Laval Warrior in his graveyard.

"That means my trap is...," Sai said while panicking.

His facedown card was incinerated as a red flame surrounded it before causing a minor explosion as the card disappeared.

"Lavalval Dragoon, use Lance of Flames!" Hikaru ordered.

A spear of fire was thrown by the rider as Cranium Fish shot out a electric beam attack which collided with the spear. After a brief struggle, the flaming spear's momentum wasn't slowed much as it went through the beam and impaled Cranium Fish causing it to disappear in fragments of light.

Yuushi- 0 LP

Hikaru- 2900 LP

Hiroshi- 0 LP

Sai- 2200 LP

"This attack will be the last one. Then we can try to save the city from this disaster and just as importantly...no, more importantly, we'll save my family. For them, I need to finish this. For them, I need to rise up and become Duel Champion!", Hikaru roared silencing not only Hiroshi and Sai but even Yuushi too with his statement.

"_He doesn't want to be Duel Champion for himself...". _After a moment of thinking, Yuushi didn't know why but it seemed like an admirable goal. "Then aim as high as you can go!"

Hikaru pointed at Sai, "Time for you guys to get out of our way! Laval Burner, attack Sai directly!"

Slamming its fists on the ground, Laval Burner caused a pillar of fire to erupt out of the ground as it travelled over to Sai engulfing him in flames. With a loud cry, Sai fell to his knees then facedown on the ground. A picture of the winning duelists and the duel results appeared on screen for a while before disappearing as the duel concluded.

Yuushi- 0 LP- WIN

Hikaru- 2900 LP- WIN

Hiroshi- 0 LP

Sai- 0 LP

On the central computer screen, the two boxes by the timer disappeared as Yuushi and Hikaru made their way over past Hiroshi who went to help Sai up.

"Uh...you know how this works?," Hikaru said to Yuushi hoping for some good news.

Yuushi started to hit a few buttons as a screen popped up which immediately closed after giving him an error message. He looked up and noticed that the timer at 3:01. "You'd have to ask Ayumi or something for that. I know a bit but not enough to solve this."

With a tone of disbelief, Hikaru turned his head. "You serious? Now what?"

Hiroshi helped Sai get to his feet as he laughed, "Guess we win then. You're good duelists and all but dueling doesn't matter now."

As Hiroshi finished his statement, he and Sai started to make their escape. As they ran to the doors, the doors to the room opened up as several people ran in including Ayumi, Mr. Suzuki, a few security guards, engineers and computer programmers of the Waterworks. The security guards ran over to Sai and Hiroshi and apprehended them on the ground as the others, including Mr. Suzuki, made their way over to the central computer. Seeing as the boys couldn't do anything, they walked over to Ayumi.

"It can't...," Hiroshi started to say before being knocked to the ground.

"What happened?," Ayumi asked anxiously.

"To sum it up, these two guys put a virus or something and we had to beat them in a tag duel in order to gain access to the central computer," Yuushi explained.

Hikaru clenched his fist looking at the timer now at 2:00. "We won and all but...I just hope they can do it."

"Come on, hurry up!", an engineer shouted.

"Breaking through...", another computer programmer added on.

"How'd you guys get in?", questioned Yuushi after completely realizing everyone was here now.

Ayumi brought up her device but then put it away. "It'd be easier to summarize it like you did. Mr. Suzuki and everyone including me broke through the door electronically after things were restored about a couple of minutes ago."

Mr. Suzuki was frantically typing on the central computer while looking at the timer reading 0:56. "it's now or never! You ready, guys!"

With a collective "Yes!", screens popped up on the central computer monitor as they disappeared but more screens popped up as suddenly the screens all disappeared as the timer froze. The alarm system deactivated as other graphs popped up now.

Unsure of the result, Yuushi turned to the girl, "Uh...is it over?"

"We did it!"

"Alright!"

All the staff started to cheer with a few throwing their caps in the air as others shook hands while some like Yuushi gave off a heavy sigh of relief.

* * *

><p>About 30 minutes later, Mr. Suzuki met with Yuushi, Ayumi and Hikaru outside to discuss what happened. After a bit of talking, the area started to get a bit dark as the lights of the city started to turn themselves on now.<p>

"Sorry for dragging you all into this. Those were two former employees of the water treatment plant. They got fired for negligence and excessive absences. Sai and Hiroshi didn't take it too well so they left afterwards a bit bitter," Mr. Suzuki commented.

Ayumi sighed as well, "The good news is that everyone stopped the crisis without too much damage. I know they'll be some security updates and training and stuff but Heartland's fine now."

Nodding once, Mr. Suzuki agreed. "I'm just a bit worried about whoever hired those two. I mean if some criminal organization is out there...yeah, I'll probably have to get in touch with the police or an investigation unit afterwards. Yuushi, Hikaru, what you told me is everything right?"

"Pretty much," stated Yuushi still worried about everything. "I hope it's the last we see of them and this organization. I'm just glad nobody was severely hurt in all this."

"I hope so too. I'll try not to get you kids involved in this during the aftermath. You've done more than your fair share," Mr. Suzuki sincerely added on.

Hikaru looked at everyone and concurred. "Thanks Mr. Suzuki. We appreciate it."

A while later, the group left the Waterworks as they waited at the monorail station.

"We make a great team, Yuushi! We need to tag duel more often," Hikaru happily nodded.

Ayumi pouted a bit, "I want to tag duel with Yuushi next! You had a turn already! We've been friends for much longer anyways."

"I'm his friend too you know," he shouted back.

They argued a bit as Yuushi sighed again. This wasn't a sigh of annoyance but rather one of relief as everything seemed to be back to normal.

"_At least things are over for now. But still, whoever hired those two realistically wants something to do with Heartland City or at least the area affecting Heartland. Not only that but also during that duel, I wonder what Hikaru's motive for trying to be Duel Champion is. I'll ask some other time so that we don't get distracted since right now...," _Yuushi realized as he shook his head.

"We still have a project to do you know. I think I got the necessary data but I'll need all of us to pitch in," Yuushi reminded everyone.

Hikaru slowly nodded his head in a defeated tone, "Right...yeah. Damn it."

"Then we'll have to get started soon. Let's see what we have," Ayumi replied trying to keep everyone on track.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7 Preview<strong>

Hikaru: Ugh, that project took forever but we finished it. I'm off to bed now.

Ayumi: Hey, Yuushi. How about we head to the mall then?

Yuushi: Sure but, who's that guy? He's really...strange, to put it lightly.

Ayumi: Maybe he's related to the recent incidents. Speaking of strange, who's that?

Yuushi: That monster he summoned, I've never heard of it but I have a bad feeling about this. Chapter 7: The Unknown Numbers.


	8. Chapter 7: The Unknown Numbers

The next morning, Yuushi opened his eyes and looked at the roof of his room. He was in his house and noticed that the sun was shining through the window as he sat up and stretched. After retrieving his D-Pad, he popped it open and looked at the time.

"_10:40 AM! Must have slept in after Ayumi, Hikaru and I stayed up for a few hours finishing up the Waterworks project due tomorrow,"_ Yuushi thought to himself still a bit dazed.

He opened the door and headed out his room downstairs and saw his mom starting to watch some television.

"Hey, Yuushi. You stayed up pretty late last night, you know. Well, I guess it's alright since you don't have school today, just try not to make a habit out of it," she said turning her head to the boy.

Yuushi answered back with a yawn, "Just had to finish a class assignment. The good news is that we finished but it just took a while."

"Are you going to relax today then?"

"I guess so but I'll make some breakfast first."

Afterwards Yuushi went to the kitchen to see what was available. The kitchen had a coffee maker, oven, stove, dishwasher, sink and even a nice small window above the sink to let some air or sunlight in. There was a salad, oatmeal, eggs, orange juice and some other things but then he saw some pancakes and decided just to have some of those for breakfast. He went to the fridge and got some butter and syrup as the pancakes were heating up. During that time he also started to heat up some milk to drink along the pancakes. Later, the food was ready and Yuushi got some plates along with a fork, knife, and cup ready to eat as he sat down in a chair by the dining table.

"How's school been? Made any new friends?", Yuushi's mother asked curiously.

Yuushi started to eat but replied back, "Yeah I've met a few people and..."

Right after that, the phone started to ring as Mrs. Sakudo got up and answered the call after a few rings. All Yuushi could hear was the sounds of him eating along with a bit of talking from his mother on whoever was on the phone with her.

"_Maybe I should have heated up the pancakes a bit longer but pancakes are pancakes so they're good anyways."_

After deciding to add more syrup, Yuushi reached for the syrup bottle.

"_Still, what should I do today? Maybe I'll head out and see if..."_

"Yuushi, your dad wants to talk to you for a bit!", shouted Yuushi's mother in the living room.

The boy got up from his seat and turned the corner of his kitchen heading into the living room. He saw that his mom left the phone on a nearby desk. The television was on and Yuushi noticed his mother was watching some sort of weather broadcast as he recognized the weatherman of the city's weather network. Turning to an area by the phone, he saw his dad dressed in his lab coat on a screen.

"Hey, dad. How's your job?", Yuushi started off asking. He was happy to hear from his dad as he eagerly waited an answer

His father laughed lightly as Yuushi saw a person in the background of his father's work area walk with a few people. They talked while the noises of machines running in the background covered up their conversation. "Well, it's been a bit busy. We've been researching some strange incidents that have been happening. So far, our latest job involves an independent corporation who has paid us to research a few sections in history where Duel Monsters-related events have had global impact and to report findings on that."

"What sort of worldwide events? So far, I can only think of a few main events I read about like the Shining Star World Tournament and the World Riding Duel Grand Prix but those happened a long ago," the boy said trying recall things he read.

His father smiled a bit and added to his statement, "Those are really major events but we're going back much further than that. I have two reasons for calling and the first admittedly was well, I knew you'd be into things like this. The Duel Monsters-related phenomenon I've been assigned to are the Signers and the Dark Signers. Even other people are looking up things earlier than that with some of my colleagues looking at the origin of Duel Monsters"

Yuushi seemed confused, "Well, off-hand I can't remember any details on anything like that."

"Don't worry, that sort of information took us a long while to find, even now my team has only gathered a bit about our part. It's a hassle trying to find reliable, credible information this far back. But secondly, I wanted to see how you were doing in classes. Meet any new friends?"

After a bit of thought, Yuushi answered back, "Mom asked the same question, dad. But well, it's pretty nice so far. I've been in a few incidents of my own and I've met a lot of people so far and been in a lot of duels. I can tell you about them when you come back home."

Mr. Sakudo nodded as he turned his head over as another few people ran past him yelling in the background. "Got to go, son. But it sounds like you're doing better than alright which is great. Have fun then and take care of your mother for me while I'm gone. Not only that but now you're in high school, you're growing up and part of growing up successfully is to make connections and friends. These people form bonds that help you when you're down or in trouble and you need to help them too. I won't be around much and your mother can't watch over you all day so you'll need people you can count on, people you call friends."

"_Friends you can count on, those who help each other. Those with a strong bond together..." _"Alright. See ya, dad."

They both hung up as Yuushi went back to his pancakes which were now a bit cold. After ten more minutes or so, Yuushi finished his glass of milk and his pancakes as he started to wash the dishes when the phone rang again. Again, his mother picked up the phone as Yuushi continued after a brief pause.

"Yuushi, it's for you!", shouted Mrs. Sakudo again in the other room.

Walking over, the boy expected his dad again but the image was that of a girl his age with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes.

"Hey, Yuushi," Ayumi cheerfully said. "You glad we finished the assignment yesterday?"

The boy smiled a bit, "Took a while though but yeah, today we can just relax then."

Rolling her eyes a bit, the girl asked another question, "Well you got any plans for today?"

"No, not really. I was actually going to think of something to do myself. Though so far, I haven't had any luck really thinking of anything much right now," he answered back.

"Great! Then how about you come with me to the Heartland Mall then. I haven't been keeping up to date with everything there and well, I'm sure you haven't so what do you say?", she asked.

"I don't know, that sounds really random. It's not really a concrete plan."

"Oh come on, like you said, you had nothing to do right? Well I didn't either so this is a win-win situation for both of us."

Yuushi rolled his eyes now as he contemplated her plan. "Alright then, why not? Could be interesting."

"Exactly. Then meet me at the nearby monorail station in about 30 minutes then. Later."

The girl hung up as Yuushi quickly went to change and got ready to head out. After a few minutes, he was ready with his D-Pad, D-Gazer and a bit of money as he changed into his brown shirt and dark green long pants and went downstairs by the door and put on his shoes.

"Mom, I'm heading out now," Yuushi said while peeking into the living room.

Yuushi's mother turned her head to see his face and Yuushi noticed that she was now watching a news broadcast. "Alright, have fun then!"

After shutting the door, Yuushi started to head off to the monorail station. Outside was a pretty sunny day as he eventually walked past a park. He looked in the park and saw a few litterbots cleaning an area up by a vending machine.

"_I wonder what's at Heartland Mall. I went there a while ago and the only thing I remember about the place is that the mall consists of multiple floors, there's a food court somewhere and that there's a few major chain stores but nothing other than that. Ayumi didn't sound like she knew much better...hey, maybe Hikaru would know,"_ he reasoned as he opened his D-Pad trying to message Hikaru.

After passing through the park, Yuushi eventually reached the monorail station and opened his D-Pad again to see if any messages got through. There were no messages as Yuushi sighed and looked around for Ayumi.

"_No answer, this isn't like Hikaru. He usually has his D-Pad on him."_

After a few minutes he noticed a girl with a red jacket, dark brown hair and a modified D-Pad and walked over to her. As soon as he made it over the monorail arrived at the station and everyone began to board it.

"Alright, you ready then?," the boy asked.

Ayumi smiled a bit and nodded. "Let's go then!"

After a while, the monorail arrived at the destination closest to Heartland Mall as it came closer and closer in sight. They got off the monorail and left the station as they started to make their way to the mall. On the way, Yuushi looked around and saw a monorail above that blasted right by the two along with several surrounding buildings. This region of Heartland had a decent amount of traffic as a flock of people were walking across the street. The only strange thing Yuushi heard was that there was a lot more honking and beeping than usual coming from vehicles. Around them were a few trees and several open spaces of grass that could be used for a park or something along that line. In one part of the grass was a large area around a skinny pole with a clock on top that looked as a great meeting location. Ayumi on the other hand was just staring at her D-Pad's screen as Yuushi he looked over at her.

"What are you doing?", he wondered.

The girl showed Yuushi her monitor and he saw two screens. One was a map leading to the Heartland Mall and the other was a webpage about the Heartland Mall itself, mostly likely the mall's official webpage.

"Just trying to make sure we're going the right way. This part of the city has a lot of alleyways and turns you know and a lot of streets that twist," the girl explained still searching around. "Alright, follow me, I think I found the best streets to travel along."

They walked down a street and crossed the road. Ayumi kept staring at the map on her D-Pad as Yuushi followed. For a while they continued through various streets and through crowds of people as they turned right on the next street ahead.

"How much longer?", Yuushi asked.

"Maybe 10 to 15 minutes of speed walking," stated Ayumi trying to gauge the scaled distance on the map.

They walked a bit longer and crossed another street as they kept moving. Yuushi noticed a large house, more akin to a mansion, in front of them. The mansion seemed like it was older than normal houses based off its appearance. A few parts of the enormous house had sharp tips resembling a tower with some sort of religious symbol on the roof near the front of the house. The front of the mansion had two large doors and even a gated fence around the building. Additionally, the fence and gate had a few vines and leaves wrapped around it presumably from the shrubbery surrounding the house as well inside the fence.

"_Wonder when that mansion was built?,"_ pondered Yuushi.

Suddenly Yuushi and Ayumi both noticed someone just standing in the middle of the sidewalk. The distinguishing feature about this person was that the individual was wearing a very, very dark purple-black robe as well as blue markings on their face and body with a necklace holding up some type of green jewels around their neck. They were about to avoid the individual when suddenly the gates to the large manor opened up which distracted Yuushi and Ayumi.

"Yuushi Sakudo, Ayumi Miyara, I've been waiting for you two to arrive," the person said.

Based off the voice, Yuushi deduced that the person was male and definitely older than the two of them in age. However, Yuushi had never met the guy and he wasn't famous or anything so the random robed guy knowing both his and Ayumi's names was definitely suspicious as the two stopped in place a bit dumbstruck. The only thing Yuushi suspected was the Waterworks incident but that's been covered up relatively well to avoid a city-wide panic.

"How do you know our names?", Ayumi cautiously asked.

Seemingly ignoring her, the robed figure turned his head and looked in between the two of them as he chuckled deeply. "I predicted and saw the future. I saw that I would meet with an interesting pair, a boy and a girl that looked just like the two of you. I've been waiting for your arrival."

"_What's this guy talking about?"_, Yuushi thought to himself.

"I sense something around the two of you. Something strange, something I can't quite deduce, something otherworldly, something my master might be interested in. Something like a Duel Monsters card," the strange man eerily commented.

Without mentioning anything Yuushi and Ayumi let him continue on. "If you'd like to know more about my power, then come inside. There I will teach you with my powers and I will teach you about the fate I have seen for you two, the fate that the cards have delivered to us all. Specifically, the fate of the card that the boy named Yuushi holds, the one from a light, the one he received years ago."

He started to walk inside turning his back to the two as Yuushi and Ayumi started to talk amongst themselves.

"Should we go?", Ayumi hesitantly wondered out loud.

"I want to know how he knew our names. That's something that definitely isn't normal. Just how much does he know about us and why...," Yuushi said trying to analyze the situation.

Ayumi felt uneasy about all this and added on, "That guy definitely looks creepy and the way he talks...something isn't right about all this. Maybe we should just ditch him."

"He's strange for sure. But still, something doesn't add up here and he mentioned a card from the light...does he know about Arcanite Magician?", he commented.

"You want to go inside and see what he knows then?", Ayumi said trying to figure Yuushi's motives out.

Yuushi was silent for a bit but answered her back, "My father couldn't find anything so if this guy knows something, it'll be worth it. Besides, this should be interesting."

* * *

><p>Walking through the gate, Yuushi and Ayumi followed the strange person into the house. In the hallway, the area was dimly lit with old portraits hanging from the walls and ancient suits of armor on the ground spread sparingly throughout. Yuushi was starting to get uneasy as they arrived at a room surrounding by pillars which contained orbs of blue light that were lighting the room. They made their way near the center of the room where the largest pillar was as the strange person stopped. He silently chuckled to himself again and swirled his hands into mid-air revealing a dark purple orb in his hands.<p>

"_How did he do that? Some sort of trick?"_, Yuushi contemplated to himself.

"I can sense it, I can see it. That card you possess, I can see it clearly now," the strange person said as the dark purple orb between his palms started to glow brighter.

"Are you a fortune teller or something?", said the boy trying to investigate the situation.

Now the purple orb made a weird sound as the person answered back, "That is one of my jobs. However, my master needs me to do other things. Other things involving powerful cards, ones like the one you possess, boy."

Suddenly though, the fortune teller's purple orb disappeared as he seemed a bit disappointed but grinned nonetheless, "I saw it, I saw your card for a moment. Your card, a Synchro Monster called Arcanite Magician, emitting that aura."

"What? How did...", yelled Yuushi and Ayumi in surprise.

"I didn't even pull it out or talk about it, how did you...", stuttered Yuushi in amazement. The fortune teller's smile contorted into a mocking grin while the boy shouted, "So what do you know about it?"

Without saying a word, he pulled out his deck and gave it a good shuffle using his own hands. Quietly, he pulled out a card and showed it to the two, a Trap Card called The Paths of Destiny.

The strange man turned to the side and looked up at something as Yuushi and Ayumi followed his gaze. They noticed another pair of dimmer blue lights as they someone up top sitting on what appeared to be a stone throne. They didn't notice this individual as this person on the throne hadn't even moved or said anything since the three walked into the room.

"I brought you here because I thought this powerful aura was the sign of the cards that my master is hunting for. Sadly though, after a closer look, you two and your Arcanite Magician are of no use to me and would not make good offerings to my master. However, because I am a humble servant of his grace, I will offer you a quick insight into your future," he said again.

"So what about that Trap Card?", Ayumi asked the fortune teller.

The purple orb appeared in the robed man's hands as he started to speak. "You two will find yourselves as a crossroads. A choice, a personal decision in your own ways. Interestingly, your Arcanite Magician is preventing my power from taking full effect but know that this decision will involve danger and peril. Oh, something else has been shown to me. A test in the near future, a test against another powerful force unlike any you've seen before."

The door they entered suddenly opened itself fully as the fortune teller started to cackle which echoed in the room. The person on the throne was still doing nothing at all as Yuushi and Ayumi took this as their cue to leave.

As the two left, the strange person stopped his cackling and maniacally grinned to himself. _"The hunt has already began."_

* * *

><p>Outside now, the two of them started to walk towards the mall again though the experience with the fortune teller was still in their minds. It was a bit more difficult to concentrate as the honking on the road continued.<p>

"That was...definitely different. But I wish he could have told me something about Arcanite Magician," Yuushi said to Ayumi while trying to see if he learned anything. "Definitely a strange individual though."

"Well, at least it was interesting like you said. He said a lot of things though, all of which were weird," commented Ayumi as she sighed.

They reached another street as again Yuushi looked up at the light, the leftmost light was green as the crowd started to make their way across the street. Ayumi noticed something as she turned to Yuushi who noticed it too as the crowd stopped in their tracks.

"_Wait, the leftmost light is green...that isn't right...it should be the rightmost light that's green",_ Ayumi realized as she looked at the opposite street which had the rightmost light as green as the traffic on both sides came to a screeching halt. A motorcycle almost collided head-on with a truck as the truck started to honk its horn and the driver started to scream out insults out the window.

"That was close," Yuushi stated.

Ayumi was thinking about the light and answered, "That's weird, the leftmost light should be red so how did this happen? It's not just a technical issue because the first and most likely issue for traffic lights would be that they would cease functioning, not just have the wrong colors."

Yuushi tried to come up with his own deduction, "Maybe it's a glitch you haven't heard of or it's a rare one?"

"Doesn't work like that," the girl quickly countered. "There's a set sequence people program in."

As Ayumi went into more technical talk, Yuushi zoned out but they kept moving on. Both of them arrived at the next traffic light which had a similar problem except this time, both lights kept alternating between red and yellow lights stopping all traffic as drivers were confused and panicked. More honking ensued as Yuushi and Ayumi just crossed the street while the traffic stopped.

"Maybe the server has a glitch or something today," Yuushi commented.

Again Ayumi shook her head, "I already explained why it doesn't work that way. Weren't you listening at all?"

Looking at Ayumi, Yuushi didn't want to say he didn't listen so he stayed silent as the topic seemed to drop itself as they could see the large structure known as the mall getting closer and closer in front of them as they reached the street that Heartland Mall was located on.

"Alright, we're here," mentioned Yuushi.

"Yeah. Now we can see all these great stores and places that I spent time researching before we walked into that creepy fortune teller. But let's focus on what's ahead and see what we can buy here," Ayumi happily said as she continued walking.

Another couple of moments afterwards, they arrived at the Heartland Mall. It was definitely much, much larger than the mansion though Ayumi noticed a lot of people walking around outside with a few fingers pointing to the mall. The crowd wasn't too big but it was big enough for people to question what was happening as more and more people joined the crowd outside.

Ayumi went over to a nearby woman and wanted to know what was happening. "Excuse me, why are there so many people outside?", she asked.

"Well, it started off a bit strange. All the lights went out, then a few people started to complain their D-Pads weren't working, then the escalator stopped and finally all the litterbots inside started to go haywire so that's when a few of us left. It only started to happen maybe about a few minutes ago," the woman recalled.

"A few minutes ago, that's when the traffic lights started malfunction," Yuushi said to the two.

Ayumi had her D-Pad opened and noticed that it was really, really slow, not as bad as a malfunction, but she could see that it has problems as she tried to see what the problem was. Yuushi looked over and saw Ayumi struggling to see the problem. Suddenly though, Yuushi felt something strange in his extra deck. It seemed as there was something pulling him inside. Whether it was true or not, Yuushi had no time to debate it as he realized his D-Pad was acting strange too now.

"I'll see what the problem is then," Yuushi told Ayumi as he started to run inside. "Be right back really fast. I'll ask a security guard or something."

"Wait! I'm going too!," shouted Ayumi as she saw the boy run off. She closed her D-Pad realizing that the problem did not have a simple solution and ran in the mall as well.

Inside the mall, the place was even larger than Yuushi remembered as the place had multiple floors and escalators going everywhere. There were a bunch of stores as more people started screaming and running out. Yuushi looked around to see why people were screaming and noticed a lot of people had their heads looking upward. Looking up as well, Yuushi didn't notice anything and put on and activated his D-Gazer. Sure enough, on the right side, on the third floor, a dust explosion occurred as people started to run away. Wanting to know the source of the problem, Yuushi made his way over to the explosion while trying to maintain a certain distance to be safe. On his way, he noticed several litterbots on the ground that have ceased functioning as he made his way to the escalator.

He ran up the unmoving escalator to the third floor and made a right turn when he saw something really unnatural. First, he noticed that a duel had concluded as he looked at the results screen.

Security Guard: 0 LP

?: 2600 LP – WIN

Looking around a bit more, there were so many things wrong with the duel that Yuushi tried to point them all out to himself. The first thing was that there were litterbots that were active and surrounding the duel so that it was hard to get in. Secondly, Yuushi noticed other unconscious security guards just outside that circle of litterbots. Thirdly, the mystery opponent should have their name on the duel display unless they wanted to hide something.

Finally, even more odd was that though the duel ended, the mystery duelist still had a monster summoned on the field that Yuushi had never seen. This creature had two Overlay Units surrounding it, so Yuushi quickly came to the conclusion that it was an XYZ monster. The mysterious monster looked like a large purple humanoid fortress of some kind resembling the shape of a bird though everything about it seemed mechanical as it shot out lightning bolts.

"Shock Ruler! Attack!," the mystery duelist shouted.

Yuushi yelled back, "The duel's over though! Wait!"

The strange monster called Shock Ruler rammed the security guard causing another shockwave to blast through the area. Yuushi stood his ground as a few litterbots were blown away too but the security guard was knocked unconscious. Shock Ruler disappeared now as the mystery duelist seemed satisfied.

The mystery duelist chuckled madly as he shouted to the unconscious guard, "Now, will you tell me about the Numbers Card that appeared in this mall a while ago and what happened to it? What happened to the power that I will rule! The power to trash servants like you!"

Yuushi wasn't really sure what to do at this point as he didn't really have a proper measure of the situation. Again though, Yuushi's extra deck started to signal out as Yuushi felt something calling to him. He took a look at his extra deck and noticed that Arcanite Magician was responsible for the feeling as it started to glow. While this occurred, Yuushi saw the mystery opponent making his way over while he was looking at his Synchro Monster. The litterbots surrounded Yuushi and the mystery opponent before he snapped out of his train of thought as he noticed the mystery opponent walking towards him.

"You...are you one who knows about the Numbers?", he said with an antagonistic tone.

Yuushi saw the mystery duelist who was a male with blue hair, a blue D-Gazer, a dark purple muscle shirt and long blue pants as he realized that he was surrounded.

"What are you talking about? What's a Numbers?", he answered back.

"You have power, power that will let me ascend the throne of power! Power that will let me rule the masses with fear! Are you the one, the one who appeared at this mall a while ago? Answer me, commoner! Are you the one I seek?", he screamed.

"I have no clue what you want!", the boy argued back.

"Cut the crap! You must know what I'm talking about! This mall has had a Numbers user recently, I saw it in the news! You must have a Numbers Card!"

Taking a step back, Yuushi didn't know what to do now.

"_He's as strange as that fortune teller..."_, he thought to himself. _"I don't know anything about this Numbers nonsense...but if I tell him that, will he really believe me? He seems pretty sure, in his mind, that I'm the person despite how illogical his conclusion is."_

At that moment, Ayumi made her way up the escalator and saw everything Yuushi had seen including the security guards and her friend being surrounded by litterbots.

"What's going on, Yuushi?", she yelled.

The girl tried to make her way over when something shoved her down to the ground from behind. Turning her head, Ayumi noticed that it was a security robot of some sort. It had a similar build to the litterbot except bigger and with a police uniform and hat. Another few security robots surrounded her too as Yuushi noticed that Ayumi was in an equal predicament as him.

The blue-haired duelist grinned fiendishly and got his Duel Disk ready and drew five cards to start. "I'll let your D-Pad ready itself. If I win, I'll be taking that power of yours! If I lose though, I'll let all the electronics and bots in the area be restored to normal...so come on! Duel!"

Yuushi clenched his fist but looked at the scenario before him. His opponent had surrounded Ayumi and himself in a situation favourable to him. Not only that, but they were both in danger since Yuushi deduced the individual had taken drastic measures in an attempt to find out whatever information he wanted to know. If things didn't go his way, he would likely turn to a more unpredictable state which, to Yuushi, was worse than things as it was now.

"I guess the time for negotiations is over then. Alright, then. Let's do this!"

With a click of a button Yuushi activated the function on his glasses to act as a D-Gazer for duels and got his dark green D-Pad ready.

Ayumi looked around at the security bots around her. She pulled out her own D-Gazer ready to duel them as her silver D-Pad was ready. However though, she stopped after seeing more security bots and litterbots surround them.

"_Even if I duel them, this could take a while and it'd be unnecessary. The best case I could get is a one against one duel about 14 times but at worst it'll be a battle royale duel. Not only that, but if Yuushi doesn't beat that guy, then it'd be faster for me to try to beat him than dueling these bots," _she reasoned and instead turned her attention to the duel.

"AR Vision, link established," the three of them heard which acted as the signal to start the duel.

"Duel!"

Yuushi- 4000 LP

?- 4000 LP

"Good luck, Yuushi!", the boy heard from his friend.

"I drew my cards first, so I'll make the first move! Draw!," the blue-haired duelist said, "I'll put this card in defence mode and then I'll set one card down and end my turn!"

The two cards materialized in front of him with the vertical one being behind the horizontal one.

"It's my turn now! I draw!," Yuushi announced as he added a card into his hand. "I normal summon Maiden of Macabre!"

Similarity, a vertical card appeared on Yuushi's side of the card though this one had a monster appear out of it. It was a female monster with blue makeup dressed up like a geisha with a decorative headdress. This Spellcaster also wore a pink kimono with pink floral patterns as a sharp scythe appeared in her hands (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"Furthermore, I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Solidarity. For now it doesn't do anything but when I have only one type of monster in my graveyard, faceup monsters I control with the same type gain 800 ATK."

The Continuous Spell appeared on the field doing nothing as Yuushi stated. However, he pointed to the facedown card on his opponent's side of the field. "Maiden of Macabre, attack that guy's defence mode monster now!"

As ordered, Yuushi's monster suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of the card with its scythe already in the air. The geisha made an instantaneous swing slicing the card in half. The card revealed a strange orange and green colored small angel with white wings that appeared to have a wreath-like body with a slash mark right through it, causing its green crystal to fall to the ground (DEF: 800, Level 4).

With a grin, his opponent laughed, "Thanks to you, Nova Summoner's effect activates. When this card is sent to the graveyard by battle, I can special summon a Light Fairy-type monster with 1500 or less ATK from my deck. So rise again, Nova Summoner!"

The green crystal cracked as an orange light emerged revealing a second Nova Summoner (ATK: 1400, Level 4).

The scythe of Yuushi's monster reacted to the light as the scythe increased in power as well (Maiden ATK: 1700+200= 1900 ATK, SC: 1)

"Thanks to you, my monster's ability activates too. It gains a Spell Counter every time this card destroys a monster by battle. Also, it gains 200 ATK for each Spell Counter on it," Yuushi said explaining the reason his monster gained ATK. He also put a card onto his Duel Disk as it started to materialize on the field in his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I'll finish this turn off by setting this down on my field."

"That card won't be around for much longer anyways! Draw!", the mystery duelist shouted. With an unsettling look on his face, he looked at the cards in his hand. "Did you really think you could measure up to my skills? Well, know your place and bow before my kingly skills!"

He picked up a card from his hand. "I activate the Spell Card, Celestial Transformation!"

Particles of light started to rain down on the battlefield as the particles started to converge into a similar form as the third Nova Summoner showed it self (ATK: 1400, Level 4). However, this Nova Summoner only seemed to be a mere image of the other Nova Summoner as it seemed brighter and more transparent (Nova Summoner ATK: 1400/2= 700)

"This card allows me to special summon a Fairy-type monster straight from my hand. However it will only have half its ATK and it will be destroyed during my end phase. I don't plan to have many cards on the field at the end anyways. Now behold as I summon Light Effigy to the field!"

From a bright light, several pink-purple orbs of light appeared as they rotated around. It didn't look like much of a monster to Yuushi or Ayumi but the rotating orbs or light formed an orbit around a center leaving behind trails of pink-purple light (ATK: 1500, Level 4).

"_They're all Level 4 and if none will stick around like he said, I bet he's planning...,"_ Yuushi started to think when suddenly his opponent raised up both his hands dramatically into the air. "Now I'll let you witness the real power of the Numbers! The power that will let me rule all! I overlay two Level 4 Nova Summoners and Light Effigy!"

Yuushi braced himself as he realized an XYZ summon with three monsters was definitely coming. The two Nova Summoners and the Light Effigy turned into bright white lights as they rose and twisted in the air. Strangely, Yuushi heard a deeper voice start laughing in an odd, deep tone as he tried to ignore it. However the next part, he couldn't ignore.

The gateway opened up like normal except rather than a red portal opening, Yuushi saw a galaxy-like image with stars in what appeared to be outer space. The three lights went into the galaxy-like gateway as he opponent continued.

"I create the overlay network with these three monsters!"

After a few moments, the galaxy gate exploded completing the XYZ summon. His opponent though started to emit a visible dark purple aura as his face seemed more violent now. Even stranger, Yuushi noticed the back of his hand was slightly glowing turquoise when the image of the number '16' appeared on the back of his hand.

"What...the hell," Yuushi said nearly speechless trying to figure out what was happening.

Similarly, Ayumi was awestruck too trying to recall if she has seen anything like this as well as she opened her D-Pad but realized it wouldn't work in the mall right now.

"Come forth, Number 16! Ruler of Color- Shock Ruler! Appear and grant your master victory!", the blue-haired opponent screamed to the sky.

A purple cube appeared out of the portal as it opened itself and shapes started to fly around but eventually they fit themselves together into the purple humanoid-bird fortress hybrid that Yuushi saw earlier (ATK: 2300, Rank 4, OU: 3).

Seeing this so-called Numbers after all this time, Yuushi couldn't figure it out exactly. He'd never heard of an archetype called Numbers before and he didn't recall reading anything about them either in his textbooks or from his father. He stayed silent trying to read his opponent's next move.

"_So this is what a Numbers looks like. What's the significance of the 16, I wonder?"_

"Your maiden is about to be melted into nothingness! I activate the Spell Card, XYZ Energy! By detaching an Overlay Unit off Shock Ruler, I can destroy your Maiden of Macabre!," the mystery opponent told Yuushi.

An Overlay Unit surrounding Shock Ruler disappeared as it turned into a white light that concentrated into a horn on its forehead (OU: 2). The light got brighter and brighter as with a ferocious roar, the Numbers monster fired a spike of light from its forehead which impaled Yuushi's monster sending it to the graveyard.

The explosion caused a ring of dust to shoot out from the battlefield. Yuushi and even Ayumi had to brace themselves as the impact subsided.

"Lowly servants, marvel at my true power! I'll use Shock Ruler's effect! Once per turn by using an Overlay Unit, I can render either Spells, Traps or Monster effects of my choice useless until the end phase of your next turn. I choose Spell Cards which are now unable to be activated!", his opponent decreed.

"No way!," Yuushi exclaimed in disbelief.

A white Overlay Unit surrounding the Numbers monster crashed into one its horns (OU: 1). The horn released white lightning that covered the entire battlefield. The lightning persisted as static that jolted every once in a while on the ground reminding the players that Shock Ruler's effect was in place.

Despite not seeing this type of monster, Yuushi realized that not being able to activate Spell Cards could be quite disadvantageous for him since many Spell Cards build Spell Counters which were key to his deck.

Ayumi looked over the security bots and saw the static though she wasn't exactly able to make out what happened except hearing that Spell Cards couldn't be activated now. _"It works both ways though, if Yuushi can't activate Spell Cards, neither can that guy."_

"I attack you directly with Shock Ruler!", commanded the Numbers duelist.

Shock Ruler picked up speed and started to hover in the air. The monster intended to ram into Yuushi using its large size and weight

In response to the attack, Yuushi revealed his facedown card and started to explain what would happen. "My Trap Card, Defense Draw, will make sure that..."

With a crazed smile, his opponent smirked at Yuushi, "No servant can act without his master's orders! I activate the Trap Card, Royal Decree! I say that you don't get any defence!"

A clear barrier started to form around Yuushi but then it shattered. Shock Ruler crashed into Yuushi directly as he was sent flying back on the ground behind him landing flat on his back. He struggled to get up but eventually recovered though he was panting from the last attack.

Yuushi- 1700 LP

?- 4000 LP

"To put it in words even you can understand, Royal Decree negates the effects of all Trap Cards on the field!," grinned the blue-haired duelist creepily. "You had enough yet? Want to give up? I'll end my turn now!"

"_That's a frightening effect. But right now, I can't use any Spell or Trap Cards, that's really not good. On the plus side, he can't either but...,"_ the boy quickly glanced at his hand. _"Don't tell me that the reason he did all this was..."_

At the same time, Ayumi was secretly worried about Yuushi with a look of concern in her eyes as she came to the same conclusion Yuushi did. _"That's...that's a lockdown deck! He's trying to seal off Yuushi's options!"_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8 Preview<strong>

Ayumi: Yuushi, you can win this!

Yuushi: It seems that it's a lot tougher than I originally thought.

Ayumi: That monster, I can sense something dangerous coming from it.

Yuushi: Yeah, not just the monster but that duelist as well...wait, what's this?

Ayumi: Yuushi, are you really going to do it?

Yuushi: To protect the two of us, I'll reveal it. Chapter 8: The Illuminating Force


	9. Chapter 8: The Illuminating Force

Yuushi looked at the field. He had one of his personal favorite cards on the field, the Continuous Spell Card, Solidarity. On his mystery opponent's side of the field was the Continuous Trap, Royal Decree which seals all Trap Cards and the giant monster known as Number 16: Ruler of Color- Shock Ruler with 2300 ATK and one Overlay Unit. Ayumi was a spectator of the duel while Yuushi and Ayumi were separated by security bots or litterbots unable to help each other out.

Yuushi- 1700 LP

?- 4000 LP

"It's my turn now! I draw!", Yuushi announced as he drew. He flipped over the card and saw that it was the Spell Card, Dark Core.

"_Alright, this is a great spell. All I need to do is..."_

As Yuushi thought to himself, he noticed static electricity covering the ground of the battlefield reminding him of another effect in play, namely Number 16's effect as he started to hesitate.

"What's wrong, can't use that card?", his blue-haired opponent taunted.

"_That's right, on that guy's turn he used Shock Ruler's effect so that neither of us can use Spell Cards. On the other hard, this lockdown affects him as well as he also can't use any Spell or Trap Cards. If I can't use Dark Core, then I'll just have to beat that Numbers card the old-fashioned way,"_ Yuushi analyzed to himself as he reached for a monster in his hand.

"I summon Crusader of Endymion in ATK mode!", declared the young duelist. A Spellcaster emerged out of the card wearing thin brown robes. However, it cast a spell causing heavy blue armor pieces to levitate and almost attach itself to the monster. Blue rings formed around the Spellcaster's limbs as the armor pieces protected the monster (ATK: 1900, Level 4).

"Time to bust myself out of this situation. Normally, I can't activate Spell Cards thanks to your monster's effect but in this case, I activated Solidarity before that effect took place. This means that I can use Solidarity's effect since I'm not activating it but rather using its effect which will remain until it's destroyed. Since only Spellcasters are in my graveyard, any Spellcaster faceup on my field will gain 800 ATK and what do you know, Crusader of Endymion is a Spellcaster," explained Yuushi.

Both Yuushi's Continuous Spell and monster glowed green as Crusader of Endymion gained strength (Crusader ATK: 1900+800= 2700 ATK).

Ayumi looked on and smiled at the situation, "Great! Yuushi's Crusader has 2700 ATK against that guy's Number monster with only 2300 ATK. Once he announces an attack, that annoying monster will be gone."

Yuushi felt confident in the duel as he pointed to Shock Ruler. "Go, Crusader of Endymion! Attack Number 16 now!"

On the boy's command, his monster started to get into a stance as suddenly a glyph contained in a circle located on the crusader's armor started to glow as runes started to light up all around its armor. With a huge step forward, Yuushi's Spellcaster's right fist started to glow as it pulled back its arm and formed a fist. The glyphs finished lighting up as Crusader of Endymion's fists glowed with a bright light. The monster dashed over to Number 16 and punched it as hard as it could. Despite the Spellcaster's smaller size, the magical power contained in the runes allowed it to punch hard enough to cause an explosion of dust that caused Yuushi, his opponent and Ayumi to cover their eyes as a blinding light emerged afterwards.

Yuushi- 1700 LP

?- 3600 LP

The light subsided and Yuushi looked at his opponent who had a big grin on his face. Yuushi was perplexed when he noticed that something was wrong, namely that Number 16 was still on the field with 2300 ATK.

Ayumi was just as surprised as she whispered to herself, "How did that monster survive?"

Yuushi was thinking the same thing as he tried to rationalize how that happened as his opponent sneered at him. "Did you really think a lowly monster like that could defeat an all-powerful Numbers! Such is the thinking of fools I suppose."

Ignoring his own agitation, Yuushi kept trying to reason this conundrum out, _"My monster should have destroyed his monster in battle since mine has higher ATK. He couldn't of used a Spell or Trap Card and I didn't see him use a monster effect either, so just how did that happen?"_

The mocking laughter continued from his opponent, "My monster can't be destroyed at all! You see, Numbers are so different and complex compared to the fodder you have. Any Numbers card cannot be destroyed in any way except in battle with or with the effect of another Numbers card."

Yuushi thought about his statement for a moment as he answered in disbelief, "Wait, you're saying that I can't destroy it by battle or with Spells, Traps or monster effects unless its from another Numbers card? I've never even heard of the Numbers archetype until today..."

On the sidelines, Ayumi was baffled too, _"That's a powerful effect. I wonder why I haven't heard of it...no, even stranger, Yuushi has more knowledge in archetypes and available cards so why hasn't he heard of it either..."_

"Now do you understand? You realize how this card allows me to rule over any duelist without a Numbers, an unworthy duelist such as yourself?", the mystery opponent shouted with absolute confidence.

"Shut up! You think I'm going to give up that easily," Yuushi argued back a bit frustrated as he tried to maintain his calmness. With a sigh, he got himself ready for his opponent's turn, "I'll end my turn then."

"That's what I wanted to hear! Draw!" his opponent shouted while drawing another card from his deck which started his turn.

"First I use my Shock Ruler's ability again, by detaching an Overlay Unit, I can stop the activation of Spells, Traps or Monster effects until the end of my opponent's end phase. Since you seem to like Spell Counters, I think I'll stop Spell Cards once again!", his opponent shouted.

Once again, Shock Ruler's Overlay Unit was absorbed into a horn located on the monster's forehead (OU: 0). The horn started to glow yellow-white as electricity shot out all over the grounds of the battlefield rendering all Spell Cards unable to be activated until the end of Yuushi's upcoming turn.

Ayumi knew Yuushi's deck needed Spell Cards to work at its fullest as she watched with anxiety seeing what would happen next. On one hand, she was a bit amazed seeing a type of monster that she had never seen before but on the other hand, she could not help feel a bit powerless since she couldn't do anything to help her best friend.

"Time for things to get from bad to worse! I summon Barrier Statue of the Heavens!", the mystery duelist grinned.

A light emerged from above the battlefield as a portal of light opened above. Descending down through the portal was an angelic yellow and white statue encrusted with a few jewels. The statue looked humanoid as the monster had a halo on its back (ATK: 1000, Level 4).

Following the summon, Barrier Statue of the Heavens shot out an orb of light that flew upwards towards the skies as both Yuushi and the blue-haired duelist's Duel Disks were glowing as well.

Yuushi seemed intrigued while his opponent raised up his hands. "Now your king in front of you states that neither of us can special summon any monster except for Light Attribute monsters!", he cried out while looking up.

Looking at his hand, Yuushi didn't like what he heard now, _"So I can't use any Trap Cards, Spell Cards and now I can't special summon any monster that's not a Light Attribute...he's affecting the three types of cards in Duel Monsters."_

"Battle! Number 16 attacks Crusader of Endymion! Crush him beneath your might!", his opponent cackled maniacally.

As some of the security bots around Ayumi started to close in on her making her feel uncomfortable, she heard that last statement. "Don't worry, Yuushi! Even if that Numbers card can't be destroyed in battle, he's still going to lose life points since your monster has more ATK."

"Naive girl! Did you really think I would let that lowlife get the better of me!," the Numbers duelist said a bit offended as he reached over to the last card in his hand and sent it to the graveyard as his Life Points decreased.

Yuushi- 1700 LP

?- 3100 LP

After that, Yuushi noticed the image of a priest wearing silver robes and a staff turning into a silver ball of light as it infused itself into Shock Ruler causing it to glow silver-white as well. "Right now, since my Shock Ruler is attacking, I can pay 500 Life Points and send Soul Magistrate from my hand to the graveyard and have my attacking monster gain 1000 ATK. Now only that but until the end phase, your monster cannot activate its effect!" (Number 16 ATK: 2300+1000= 3300 ATK).

"What!," Yuushi shouted in surprise.

The now glowing Shock Ruler started to levitate as it picked up speed while flying towards Crusader of Endymion. After a second or two, the huge monster crashed into Yuushi's monster destroying it as it disappeared into pixels. Yuushi braced himself as the resulting shockwave sent Yuushi sliding back as he tried to resist it with all his might. Eventually, Yuushi slid back several feet but managed to stay standing though he was exhausted from the attack as he started to breathe heavily.

Yuushi- 1100 LP

?- 3100 LP

"I attack you directly with Barrier Statue of the Heavens! Eat this!"

On his command, the Barrier Statue began to charge up an attack as light gathered above its head. After a bit of charging, a beam of light was shot through Yuushi as he fell to his knees.

Yuushi- 100 LP

?- 3100 LP

"Yuushi! You alright?," shouted the girl who was significantly worried about him.

"That's right! Kneel before your master!", his opponent said while the dark-purple aura around him intensified.

After staggering a bit, Yuushi finally got up as his opponent suggested something, "You should save me some time and just surrender, there's no way you can win!"

The offer did seem decent, Yuushi's hand was alright but nothing to mount any serious offence with since his Spells and Traps were sealed and special summons except for Light monsters were blocked off too. That meant about half his hand and deck wasn't going to do him any good this coming turn.

Yuushi was silent as he suddenly heard Ayumi yell, "What do you think you're doing?"

Looking over, Yuushi noticed a few of the security bots around Ayumi started to ram into her as she kicked a few away but more decided to surround her. With another kick sending one flying back, another litterbot or security bot would take its place. Yuushi noticed his situation was similar as well seeing litterbots starting to get agitated and beeping rapidly.

"Ayumi...," Yuushi muttered to himself before turning to his opponent. "You think I'm going to give up? I'm going to win this duel and stop this!", Yuushi boldly exclaimed.

The blue-haired duelist grinned, "Defiant to the end. Fine, then I'll end my turn with that! Of course that means my Soul Magistrate's effect wears off now and Shock Ruler returns to its original attack but the damage has already been done (Number 16 ATK: 3300-1000= 2300 ATK)."

Before drawing his card, Yuushi addressed all his options especially his Tuner Monster in his hand, _"I have my Ace Monster left in my extra deck but I promised Dad and Mom that I wouldn't use it. Dad __wanted to analyze it properly before anything...no, damn it, I can't think of that at a time like this. There's only one thing I have to do now, save Ayumi and me from this Numbers nutcase! For that, I'll do anything! Even if the people in the mall, security cameras and bots see this, I have to do it!"_

"I draw a card!", Yuushi declared while looking at the Level 5 Monster he drew along with his hand which now consisted of four cards. _"I have the Trap Card, Magic Drain but that won't do me any good and neither will Dark Core for now. Next turn, I can play my Spells since he has no Overlay Units to use Number 16's effect."_

Yuushi revealed a card to his opponent, "At this moment I summon the Tuner Monster, Frequency Magician!"

A purple caped magician with large purple gauntlets appeared. The gauntlets had wires attached to the monster's armor around its hands. It also had white clothing and a matching helmet too with a yellow emblem hanging from a cloth (ATK: 800, Level 2 Tuner).

"Tuner...," Ayumi whispered to herself looking on now that the bots around her were less aggressive.

"First of all, when I successfully normal summon this card, it gains a Spell Counter!," Yuushi explained (Frequency SC: 1). "Not only that but I can remove its Spell Counter to have any faceup monster I control gain 500 ATK until my end phase. Since I only have this monster faceup, I'll remove a Spell Counter to power it up!"

The magician cast a spell in its hands causing a ripple to emit from itself as it gained strength (Frequency ATK: 800+500= 1300 ATK, SC: 0)

"Like before, since Spellcasters are in my graveyard, this Spellcaster gains 800 ATK thanks to Solidarity."

The ripple around Frequency Magician turned green thanks to the effect of Yuushi's Continuous Spell Card (Frequency ATK 1300+800= 2100 ATK).

With a nod to himself, Yuushi started to battle, "I use Frequency Magician to attack Barrier Statue of the Heavens!"

Frequency Magician raised up both its arms as sound waves started to shoot out from its hands converging onto the statue monster. After a few sound waves collided with the statue, Barrier Statue of the Heavens started to crack and split as the creature was broken into pieces. Its pieces landed on the ground creating a large thud noise as dust picked up on its landing site.

Yuushi- 100 LP

?- 2000 LP

Despite the damage, his opponent didn't seem too worried. "I knew it, that's all someone like you can muster up! I on the other hand, have the Numbers, the cards that will shape and rule the world itself! In front of it's might, all will be dominated by it!"

"That...that's not how it should be! I...I...," Ayumi started to argue back from her location.

Yuushi closed his eyes trying to focus, "Ayumi, let me handle this. That Numbers is good and I have no idea what it is or what it can do...but I'm glad you showed it to me. In return, I'll show you something a bit special too."

With those words, his opponent stayed silent as he started to wonder if it was just a bluff.

"During my second main phase, I'll discard Magic Drain from my hand in order to special summon The Tricky from my hand!," announced Yuushi after sending the Counter Trap to the graveyard.

A jester-like creature emerged out of the materialized card. It was wearing yellow and black checkered clothing and jester's hat as its mask and clothing had a question mark on its face and chest. Furthermore, the monster had a dark blue cape as it was ready to fight (ATK: 2000+800, Level 5).

"I couldn't special summon this monster earlier thanks to your Barrier Statue but now that's it's off the field, I can special summon this Level 5 Wind attribute monster."

The blue-haired opponent looked at Yuushi's monster, "A tuner and a non-tuner...don't tell me..."

"Here goes! I'm going to tune my Level 2 Frequency Magician with my Level 5 The Tricky!"

On Yuushi's command, Frequency Magician emitted another sound wave affecting both monsters as Frequency Magician turned into two green rings as The Tricky turned into five spheres of light. The two rings arranged themselves parallel to each other as the five lights went in between the two rings.

"A magician matched only in the mythic era! The illuminating force from the cosmic legends! Synchro Summon! Appear, Arcanite Magician!"

A bright white light engulfed the rings as a blue armored magician with a blue horned helmet showed itself. In its hands was a dark green staff with a light green orb at its tip. The magician itself also had matching blue hair, skin and gloves as well (ATK: 400, Level 7).

With the arrival of this magician, Ayumi and even a few spectators in the mall looked on with wonder. "So that's Yuushi's Ace Monster," Ayumi said in awe.

His opponent was not as impressed however and smirked, "What could you do with a mere 400 ATK?"

Yuushi ignored him and continued, "When this monster is Synchro Summoned, it gains two Spell Counters. Not only that, but for every Spell Counter on it, it gains 1000 ATK."

"That means it's stronger than my Numbers monster," his opponent realized in disbelief.

Arcanite's Magician's staff started to radiate a green light as it looked on at the Numbers monster (Arcanite ATK: 400+1000+1000= 2400 ATK, SC: 2)

Looking at Royal Decree, Yuushi wanted to get rid of it but then started to contemplate a counterpoint, _"If I get rid of Royal Decree, both of us can use Trap Cards. I only have Dark Core in my hand so I don't have any traps I need to use. Not only that but this way, he can't use any Trap Cards. At worst it's just going to sit there harmlessly and at best it'll seal his own Trap Cards."_

"Not only that but Solidarity gives it another 800 ATK. My turn's over now! (Arcanite ATK: 2400+800= 3200 ATK)", Yuushi announced.

The mystery duelist nervously drew a card as the static on the field wore out. Though he had no more Overlay Units, he started to grin a bit crazily, _"Excellent, I just drew Marshmallon. Not only can this __card not be destroyed in battle, but if that stupid kid attacks this card while its facedown, right afterwards he'll take 1000 points of damage, giving me the win! It's his only choice, after all, my Shock Ruler can't be destroyed either."_

"I'll set a monster in facedown defence position and switch Number 16 into defence mode and I end my turn with that! Now how will you inflict battle damage, boy! Turn end!"

Shock Ruler put up a barrier as the card below it went from a vertical to a horizontal position (DEF: 1600). In addition, another facedown horizontal card materialized beside it.

"Now it's my turn! I draw!", Yuushi shouted as he looked at the cards in his hand, Dark Core and Damage Polarizer.

"_He's got a point, even with Arcanite Magician's effect, I can't destroy that Numbers monster. No, rather, there's not a card in my deck that can destroy it. I suppose I can burn down his Life Points but that might take a while, decking him isn't feasible either so what else can I do..."_, Yuushi thought to himself while trying to deduce an answer.

"What's wrong? Come on and hurry up so I end this! You don't have any method to destroy my Numbers and now you can't even inflict battle damage to it!," his opponent taunted.

"Don't listen to a word he says! You can do it!", Ayumi shouted enthusiastically as she looked around seeing a few security bots trying to close in on her as she got ready to kick them back again.

With a silent nod to Ayumi, Yuushi started to deeply analyze his options. _"My trap that I just drew won't be any good but...wait, that's it...that's how I can win this! I was so flustered that I didn't see it, I didn't see the cards to victory!"_

He looked to his opponent while reaching for a card from his hand, "It's true that I don't have any way to destroy Number 16 in my whole deck or by using any combination in it. But destroying it isn't the only way to win duels, I could drop your Life Points to 0 with the Numbers card on the field or deck you out and still win. Since I can't do either of those...," Yuushi explained while revealing a card in his hand, "Since Spell Cards can be played now, I play the Spell Card, Dark Core. By discarding Damage Polarizer from my hand to the graveyard, I can remove from play a monster, more specifically that Numbers card!"

"Remove from play...great job, Yuushi!," the girl shouted out realizing what her friend was trying to do.

His opponent took a step back, "Remove from play...don't tell me, no I don't believe it...!"

"By the effect of Dark Core, even if I can't destroy a Numbers card, I can remove it off the field!"

After sending his Trap Card to the graveyard, Yuushi's Spell Card activated as a black sphere engulfed the Numbers monster. The sphere expanded as blue and black lightning shot out from the sphere until the dark sphere collapsed in on itself, disappearing in the blink of an eye as Number 16 disappeared along with it.

"This peasant...no, I can't believe it, I won't!", the duelist said thrashing around.

With a stern look, Yuushi continued his turn, "I also activate the effect of my Arcanite Magician. I can destroy a card such as your monster with its effect by removing a Spell Counter from a card I control like Arcanite Magician! Go, Pulsar Wave!"

The staff of Yuushi's Ace Monster glowed green as the magician finished charging a spell and raised the staff up. Green waves of light shot out around the battlefield as the waves sliced through the facedown monster, revealing a strange marshmallow creature disappearing in pixels of light (Arcanite ATK: 3200-1000= 2200 ATK, SC: 1)

Despite his last monster being destroyed, his opponent didn't seem to mind that much as he seemed completely zoned out of the duel after Shock Ruler was removed from play.

Ayumi smiled which made Yuushi pretty happy on the inside, "Go, Yuushi! Show him what you're made of!"

"I attack you directly with Arcanite Magician! Starlight Horizon!", Yuushi ordered.

Arcanite Magician raised up its staff with both hands as a white light surrounded the magician. The light intensified so much that the opponent shook his head and only now realized what was happening. With a powerful thrust, the staff shot out a half blue-green burst of light at the opponent which exploded on contact as his opponent was blasted onto his back several feet away in defeat.

Yuushi- 100 LP- WIN

?- 0 LP

The alarm signalling the end of the duel was heard as the AR Vision disappeared returning everyone back to the mall. The litterbots and security bots suddenly slumped over as they ceased all activity and functioning as Ayumi ran over to Yuushi.

"Alright, I did it," Yuushi said to himself with a sigh of relief after seeing all the bots not moving anymore.

His opponent was just laying there in disbelief before finally getting up and staring furiously at Yuushi, "I can't, I won't, I'll never accept that a Numbers was defeated by someone without one!That's not..."

Yuushi stared at his opponent who just got up. Ayumi could feel the tension between the two as there was a brief moment of silence between the three of them. Without a word, the blue-haired duelist suddenly made a run for it as he hopped down the escalator. Yuushi and Ayumi went to chase him but after he dropped from the escalator, he was nowhere in sight. For a moment both of them paused as they heard a few whispers and talk amongst the few spectators who watched. Suddenly, they heard sirens as people started to move once more.

"You think that's the police?", Ayumi asked.

Yuushi nodded, "Probably and if we don't get out of here, we might be the main suspects. After all, the only thing people saw was a duel and a few strange cards. We might be pinned as the criminals while all the electronics in the area are down," Yuushi explained as the two ran.

The girl nodded while running, "Yeah, the earlier evidence of that blue-haired guy might have been deleted thanks to that guy."

After a few minutes, the two of them were outside as they started to walk away from the mall now. Police sirens and cars were making their way to the mall, likely to examine the scenario of what just happened. Not only the police, but even the two highschoolers were wondering about the duel and that mystery duelist with a Numbers as well. A few minutes later, they passed several streets on their way back to the monorail station.

"Today was some day," Yuushi commented trying to relax with the remainder of the day left. "At least like you said, we needed something to do and today we got more than what either of us had wanted."

Ayumi nodded, "Yeah, but...you did great Yuushi. Who knows what could have happened if things had gone on any longer or in a worse scenario. But did you know anything about the Numbers cards when he played it?"

With that curious question, Yuushi started to get a bit worried, "Well, to be honest, no I didn't. I've never heard of anything like them. I just got really lucky in that duel. None of my textbooks have anything on the Numbers and neither does any research I've encountered. I was actually going to ask you the same question."

The girl shook her head, "But it's strange isn't it. Those cards seem to be powerful and they gave off a strange vibe to them. Also, that guy said at the start that he was looking for another person with Numbers, so does that mean there's more out there?"

Yuushi recalled the '16' appearing on the back of the duelist's hand and a dark purple aura surrounding him as he nodded, "It was definitely not ordinary. Well at least not normal that's for sure. That card and that duelist was different, I can't tell exactly what it was but I got the same strange feeling too. If there really are other Numbers out there, did he hear about it through the media or something? Hmmm, I wonder if Hikaru knows anything about it?"

After thinking a bit they looked to each other as Ayumi said to Yuushi, "Well, he's probably going to be too busy preparing for the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament tomorrow."

"Good point," Yuushi said suddenly, "I have to prepare for that myself."

"Speaking of preparing, are you going to use Arcanite Magician at the tournament?", Ayumi asked with intrigue.

Yuushi sighed and answered back, "I'm still not sure. I mean I know my dad said not to use it and this time was a special one-time deal since we were in danger but...well, I'll tell him what happened and we'll see."

After getting a bit nervous the girl blushed a bit and replied, "Thanks by the way...thanks for saving me. It means a lot to me..."

This time Yuushi got a bit flustered, "Well, no problem...I...I'm sure you would have done the same for me."

Both of them continued to talk as they eventually reached the monorail station after several more minutes.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Yuushi finished eating dinner as he looked outside. It was dark now as he heard the sounds of a few nocturnal creatures like owls through his room's window. Picking up the phone, he decided to tell his dad what happened.<p>

"I guess I owe dad an explanation, I played the card he said not to play in a public area where people saw me. Arcanite Magician did end up getting us out of that situation but still...," the boy said to himself as the phone started to ring.

After a few more rings, a black-haired man with slightly longer hair than Yuushi picked up the phone. He was still in a lab coat as he smiled upon seeing his son. "Hey, Yuushi. How are you doing? This is a nice surprise."

"How's your work going?", Yuushi answered back.

"Not bad. We're taking a bit of a research break. I was planning to talk with the others but since you called I think I'll talk to them later," his father said. "How are things on your end?"

With a bit of a pause, the boy responded, "Well you see..."

After several minutes explaining today's events with Ayumi including the strange fortune teller, the reaction to the duelist that Arcanite Magician had, the Numbers duelist himself at the mall and him using Arcanite Magician, he stopped for a brief moment to let his father take all the information in.

As he finished his explanation Yuushi apologized, "Sorry for using Arcanite Magician but I felt like I had no other options in that scenario to keep the two of us safe."

Yuushi's father was taken aback by his son's story and started to ponder, "No, you made the right call there. Both Ayumi and you are far more important than that secret. What concerns me though is how that fortune teller knew about Arcanite Magician and this whole Numbers thing. I heard a few cards with numbers on them appearing in Heartland City recently. I read about it in a newspaper article and a few pieces i found online but I thought that those were just rare cards."

His father started mumbling to himself as Yuushi seemed confused, "So what do you think I should do now?"

The person in the lab coat muttered but started to answer, "Hmm...well, that fortune teller definitely sounds strange. Yuushi, the reason I didn't want you to use that card was because I didn't want you to be in danger because of something either your mother, yourself or I knew nothing about. Even modern technology and research can't figure your Synchro Monster out yet for that fortune teller you described...

Yuushi quickly added on, "Ayumi and I talked about that too and how that now, if these Numbers are in the newspaper, how long will it be until Arcanite Magician is there too."

"That's a good point," his father pondered out loud, "What do you think Yuushi? Be honest now, that card is yours so you should know it best. What was it like playing that card and why did you do it?"

Yuushi pulled out the Synchro Monster, looked at it and took a deep breath, "To play that card was...well, fun to be honest. I really liked to used it. It's my favorite card. The reason I used it was to get Ayumi and me out of that dangerous situation and I'd do it again if I had to."

His father sighed but then smiled, "If it wasn't that dangerous to use and since it's only a matter of time now before it gets known to the public...then why not. Yuushi, play that card to your heart's desire. Who knows, you might even duel someone one day who knows about Arcanite Magician or those Numbers cards you spoke of. Just be careful and remember that your friends and family will be cheering you on."

Yuushi was deeply moved as he smiled warmly, "Dad..."

His father looked to the side, "Well, if that's the case, tell your mother I said 'Hi' and remember to take care of those you care about."

As his father hung up, Yuushi took another look at his Arcanite Magician card and smiled. He put the card back into his extra deck and looked outside seeing the starry night skies.

* * *

><p>Wandering Heartland City about 30 minutes after Yuushi's call, the other blue-haired duelist involved at the mall started to wander the streets. He barely escaped and was staggering in disbelief over what happened.<p>

"That stupid kid, this has to be a joke! This Numbers can't..., just what was that card!", the blue-haired duelist yelled while kicking over a garbage can.

He heard a chuckle and a voice, "So it seems that you were defeated by someone with a mysterious card. Let me see, I see it, I see it clearly, a Spellcaster, no a Spellcaster Synchro Monster by the name Arcanite Magician!"

The fortune teller stepped out from the shadows and smirked as the blue-haired duelist turned to him, "Just how did you know?", he demanded.

With a smug grin, the fortune teller continued, "The boy with that card was in my mansion earlier with a girl at his side...and I also know that you hold a Numbers yourself."

A dark purple aura started to surround the fortune teller as the blue-haired duelist seemed angry, "Don't mess with me!"

"Do you want to know the real power of the Numbers?", the fortune teller asked before turning his back to the duelist while heading to his mansion, "Then I can tell you all you need to know to rule the Numbers...but first you must prove yourself worthy in a duel in front of Master Kaito against me, his servant!"

The blue-haired opponent was goaded by this stranger but his words were of great interest to him, "Then tell me who you are!"

The fortune teller stopped at the door of his mansion and opened the door, "I am the All-Seeing One. I am Jin, Master Kaito's humble servant!"

The fortune teller known as Jin and the blue-haired duelist entered the mansion as the two got ready for a duel, a duel far greater than anything the blue-haired duelist had expected.

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Soul Magistrate

Level 3

Light Attribute

Fairy/Effect

ATK: 1000, DEF: 500

During your damage step, when a faceup Fairy Monster you control battles, you can pay 500 Life Points and send this card from your hand to the graveyard to have that monster gain 1000 ATK and any monster that card battles cannot activate its effect until the end phase.

**Note: Thanks to SandMan29331 for giving me advice on how to format Original Cards so it is easier for people to read them.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9 Preview<strong>

Yuushi: Cards that are unknown, the pros and cons of playing them.

Ryoko: Hey, what are you whispering about Yuushi?

Hikaru: I bet I know, he's thinking about the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament! Yeah!

Ayumi: Good luck to everyone. Chapter 9: Delta's Tournament Commences

Hikaru: I'm going to win for sure! Wish me luck out there!

Ryoko: Not unless I win it all!

* * *

><p><strong>Note: The first arc (the Intro arc) is over. If anyone could write me some reviews or comments on things they liked or didn't like about writing style, format, character, dueling, etc so that I can improve in the future, I would appreciate it. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this fanfic.<strong>


	10. Chapter 9: Delta's Tournament Commences

The next morning, Yuushi barely managed to open his eyes as he slowly got out of his bed. Last night, he didn't sleep too well with faint memories of the events of yesterday making him feel a bit uneasy as he got ready to head out for school. Looking near the wall, he grabbed his red backpack in his room and made his way downstairs after changing his clothes. His mother had already gone out shopping and his father was still at work which left him having to make his own breakfast himself.

"_Let's see what we have"_, Yuushi thought to himself as he started looking at the clock. _"Guess I woke up a bit early. If that's the case I'll just make something a bit better for myself. I guess I'll also check the weather for this afternoon and hopefully it won't rain or be that cold."_

Yuushi went and got some orange juice as he put bread into the toaster. Looking around in the cupboard for a minute, he managed to find a clear cup to drink out of as he went into the other room and turned on the television to the news broadcast where the weatherman reported the weather being sunny but being colder than usual days.

After the weatherman stopped talking, Yuushi went to the kitchen nearby and got his now-ready toast and filled his cup with orange juice. Lastly, he got some strawberry jam out of the cupboard and a knife as he spread the jam on the warm toast with a grin to himself. Moving his breakfast over to the kitchen, he took a bite of the bread as the news came on.

Right after the news channel's brief theme, there was the news reporter who said that there was 'Breaking News' as Yuushi stared with interest. The television then zoomed in on a few images with the first one being a boy in a hospital bed, another of a girl in the emergency ward, a third of another in a ward room and another boy laying in another bed. Normally, this wasn't too shocking but this was different as each of them shared common characteristics that Yuushi noted to himself. The first was that all those people on the news had silver-tan hair and that their bodies were wrinkled in an abnormal fashion. The next was the blank stare in their stares which even the reporter noted.

The boy muttered to himself after taking a gulp of orange juice. "What happened to them? Some sort of disease? Looked like a ghost possessed them or something."

As the images disappeared off the screen, the reporter looked up to the audience and announced, "The images you have seen were from a relatively recent string of incidents. Authorities have looked into this and they have found that all the people you saw just now were in fact duelists and even more strange is that claims have been made by eyewitnesses that these duelists held something called a Numbers card."

With a bit of surprise, Yuushi continued to watch,_"Numbers. That's like that guy and his Number 16: Ruler of Color- Shock Ruler in the mall. The archetype of cards that no one's heard of."_

"Authorities have claimed that for the time, the mysterious Numbers cards should be considered dangerous and to report anything you hear about it straight to them. We will have more on this story as developments emerge," said the reporter as Yuushi stopped eating for a minute and shut off the television.

"_Not even the authorities know what to do with those. At least it's not just me since it seems that a lot of people don't have answers to what happened yesterday. But..."_

Putting down his breakfast, Yuushi grabbed his deck and took a look through it before pulling out Arcanite Magician and looking at it. After remembering the events of yesterday and his opponent, he couldn't shake off the troubling feeling in his gut after seeing the number 16 engraved on his opponent along with the aura that surrounded him and finally the strange summoning involved with Shock Ruler. To Yuushi, the atmosphere was ominous since he couldn't explain any of those events as he closed his eyes and got up. Now he was thinking about the events of the light that first appeared two years ago and how he received Arcanite Magician. On the other hand, there was also his father's warning both yesterday and on his first day to Delta Academy with Ayumi that was resonating in him too.

"_Is this what my dad warned me about? If I use something that no one's heard of like Arcanite Magician too much, will I be the next person in a comatose state. Is this the price that the Numbers users had to pay..."_

Yuushi ran the possibilities through his mind but through the corner of his eye, he realized it was getting late as his finished up his breakfast and made a run to the door.

* * *

><p>Later that day, the final bell rung as students were excited that class was over. Today, Yuushi felt a bit more distracted than usual as he barely noticed that the final bell had rung. However, many students were excited today as Ayumi met Yuushi walking out of Classroom 1-D. Several other students ran past the two as others started to walk in the same direction as the running crowd of students. With a sigh, Yuushi stopped for a moment and looked at the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament poster that was hanging on the wall. Afterwards, he put his hand on his deck holder for a quick moment as a few other people passed by.<p>

Ayumi noticed a bit of a grim look on Yuushi's face as she commented, "Guess the tournament's coming up soon right? You excited?"

With a sigh, Yuushi replied back, "Well, I'm definitely a bit nervous. Maybe excited would be the word you'd use for Hikaru. I don't think I saw him after the bell rang and we left class. He just bolted out the door."

"Just relax, this is just a normal tournament right?", the girl said trying to calm her friend down.

"I know that but still, I want to do as well as I can. I don't think I've been to anything this big," Yuushi added on as he felt a slightly shaky now.

After following the students for about 12 minutes or so, Yuushi and Ayumi reached another building in Delta Academy. Outside were two large doors and a few tournament staff members that were there to either register last minute entrants or to admit spectators of the tournament. There were a decent amount of people in the spectator line and even less in the participant line though Yuushi was still nervous.

A brown-red haired girl showed up behind the two and greeted them, "Yuushi, are you ready for this? There's more people than I thought here."

"I was wondering that myself actually, there's quite a few people in the spectator line that I don't recognize. Maybe I still don't know enough people here," the boy said.

Looking more carefully at the spectator line, Ryoko chuckled and turned back. "No, it's not you being crazy, it's just that there are spectators that aren't from the school. You know, a few parents, maybe other people living near the school or even students from other schools might come to watch. Who knows," she shrugged.

Ayumi interjected himself into the conversation, "There's people from other places watching? I thought it was just restricted to anyone at Delta Academy."

Ryoko pointed to a nearby poster with her thumb. "Nah, it's always been like that. Only the duelists in the tournament are all from Delta. This just makes things a bigger than usual but of course nothing like the pro tournaments or anything. Still, it would arguably be one of the bigger dueling events associated with an academy. So come on, what are we waiting for then."

Chuckling a bit, Yuushi nodded to the two girls as he started to leave with Ryoko. "I'll look around and try to find you then," he said to his childhood friend.

"Alright, I'll wave to you when I see you then. Good luck," Ayumi said to both of them as she went to the back of the spectator line.

Yuushi and Ryoko entered and saw the gym looking relatively normal except the center of the gym was cleared out for a virtual board with the numbers 1 to 8 on them along with a few people standing in between the spectators and the duelists and of course a few rows of spectators already seated. Everyone was talking in groups with some of their friends about presumably the tournament.

"_Well...I guess this is what I expected so I can't say I'm too surprised,"_ Yuushi thought to himself while looking around.

Suddenly though, Yuushi was tapped on the shoulder a few times as he turned around and saw Hikaru who was smiling as he started to look around too. Suddenly though, he turned his gaze to the left and waved his hand to someone. Ryoko turned and noticed that there was a younger girl with dark blue-black hair waving back to Hikaru. Ayumi was near that location too as Yuushi and Ryoko waved to the two of them.

"Who's that?", Ryoko said to Hikaru who had stopped waving.

"That's Natsumi, she's my little sister. I was in a real hurry since she was being dropped off by my parents and I promised to keep a constant eye out on her. Luckily though, I met Ayumi on the way in and she promised to keep after her for me. Now I can focus on winning and making sure my sister sees her brother in some action," he said confidently.

Sometime later, after everyone in the audience had settled down, Principal Tsubasa had a microphone in his hands.

"Everyone! Welcome to this year's Delta Duel Monsters Tournament. This is a great chance to see who the best duelist in the school is regardless of age or experience. The top price is some credit at the Delta Card Shop and bragging rights but remember most of all to have fun and let's really see some exciting duels out there! First things first though...", the principal said as he took a slight breath.

"Guess there really is an elimination round," Yuushi muttered out loud.

"What's that?", Hikaru whispered.

Principal Tsubasa continued on, "Since we have quite a few duelists today, we will have sudden death one against one elimination matches where the winner is not eliminated. This continues until we narrow things down to the last eight contestants. There will be four ongoing duels with our officials overlooking the matches. The computer will randomly select the duelists and the field they will go to. Each duelist's name can only be generated once per round to face any opponent and after two rounds, we should be down to our last eight contestants."

Yuushi, Hikaru and Ryoko looked around at the other duelists for a moment.

"After the elimination round is over and we're down to our last eight fierce duelists, they will have their chance to walk up and randomly generate their own place in the bracket. After the tournament bracket has been decided, the final eight participants will enter a single elimination tournament. This is different than the elimination round as the winners of each match move up and will know their next opponent in advance. Duelists may not receive outside help which includes outside cards or advice. Duels will take place one against one with both duelists having 4000 Life Points at the start of the duel. If you have any questions, feel free to ask a referee or myself for clarification. Now without further delay, let the dueling begin!"

Everyone clapped and cheered as Principal Tsubasa sat back down near a wall and looked on as the Delta Duel Tournament commenced. He was happy that so many people turned out and he was looking forward to things himself.

Duels started as various monsters were summoned and AR vision was simulating everything happening. As time passed, Yuushi won his first duel with an attack from The Tricky as he took a break and looked over at the other duels.

A girl had just XYZ summoned a ninja wearing black and purple armor as it swung down destroying a green cactus monster. The girl announced her next move as the ninja drew out its other sword looking at a man-eating orange-pink plant, "Since I removed an Overlay Unit from Blade Armor Ninja earlier this turn, I can have this card attack once more!"

Like the girl commanded, Blade Armor Ninja slashed down through the other plant on her opponent's field as the girl with the ninja won her duel.

A few duels later, Hikaru was the next person dueling. A few turns had passed with cards played such as Laval Gunner, Laval Lancelord, Searing Fire Wall and Statue of the Wicked and Hikaru made the final attack of the duel.

"Searing Breath!", the boy shouted out.

Lavalval Chain shot out a blast of red flames that directly hit his opponent as his duel ended as well with Hikaru looking over to his sister Natsumi and smiling. "Yeah, did you see that sis? I won!", he shouted to the audience.

Principal Tsubasa made his back up to the center of the gym and made another announcement, "Let the second round begin!"

The next round started as Yuushi was one of the first duelists in the second round of the elimination round.

His opponent was a slightly older boy but Yuushi looked at his opponent who only had 500 Life Points left while he had 1200 Life Points and it was his battle phase now. On his field was Pitch-Black Power Stone and a Spell Drain facedown as his opponent had two cards in his hand. As for monsters, Yuushi had a Flux Magician with two Spell Counters and 2600 ATK against his opponent's Alien Shocktrooper which was a reptile creature with black armor socketed with blue gems. Alien Shocktrooper only had 1900 ATK.

Yuushi shouted out an attack while looking at the field hoping this would be the final attack, "End the duel!"

Flux Magician charged up its fist with electricity as it dashed forward punching Alien Shocktrooper and destroying it with that one punch as the AR vision faded with Yuushi's picture in the aftermath having the 'WIN' mark over it.

"Ugh," Yuushi's opponent said with a bit of disappointment in his voice. "Not even past the elimination round," as he walked off and decided to continue watching from the sidelines.

With the audience clapping, Yuushi felt a bit embarrassed but walked off to the sidelines as well where Ryoko and Hikaru were.

"Congratulations Yuushi," Ryoko said as she looked at her deck.

"You were in a bit of trouble there," teased Hikaru back as he looked at the next duel which was about to be over too.

Yuushi gave a light sigh and smiled a bit, "Yeah. I was but..."

"Oh tell me later," Hikaru shouted as he ran off seeing his name announced, "Tell me later after I win."

Ryoko chuckled a bit, "Aren't you a bit too overconfident?"

The blue-black haired duelist stopped and turned around to his friends for a moment, "Hikaru Aoki won't disappoint his sister by losing and not even making it past the elimination round. No, I'm going to win this thing so I can't lose here!"

With that, he ran off to face his next opponent. The duel was intense as it reached the eighth turn as Hikaru saw a good opportunity to attack as he went all out.

"I activate Rush Recklessly! Now destroy Machina Fortress!", Hikaru shouted as he slammed down his Quick-Play Spell Card onto his Duel Disk as his Lavalval Dragoon charged with intense speed destroying the blue and white tank-cannon-humanoid machine.

His sister shouted, "Alright! Nice duel! You're the best!"

Though Hikaru couldn't hear Natsumi exactly over the applause, he looked over to her and Ayumi while walking back as he nodded and smiled making his way back to Yuushi and Ryoko.

"Yeah! Yeah!", shouted Hikaru as he smiled to himself.

Ryoko looked at the boys and said, "Good job. We all made it past the elimination round."

"On the other hand, with us having three out of eight spots, there'll be a good chance that two of us will have to face off against each other in the first round," calculated Yuushi as he looked over to the tournament bracket.

Hikaru took a look at the bracket too and chuckled, "You're not getting nervous are you Yuushi?"

Yuushi looked back, "No. Well, maybe a little bit but I'll be fine."

"That's good. After I win, I don't want to hear any excuses or anything!", commented Hikaru.

Ayumi and Natsumi were at the stands as the audience looked at the final duel of the elimination round in awe. A boy commanded his warrior monk to punch as it launched a projection of its own fist towards the helpless opponent. With a direct hit, the boy with the monk nodded to himself as the duel was over. After a bit of shuffling, the final eight duelists were standing the center of the gym as the tournament bracket was virtually displayed above everyone's heads.

"My brother's really strong!", Natsumi said looking down with a smile.

Ayumi smiled a bit and looked down too, "Yeah, he's pretty good."

A bit of time passed as everyone was set up for the brackets to be set as Principal Tsubasa came on stage once again to explain what was happening.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the final matches of the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament is about to begin. The duelists will hit this button standing my right which will generate a number to be stored in the computer. For suspense purposes, numbers will not be revealed until all eight of the contestants have had a chance to generate a number. It will be once again a single-elimination format with two duels going on at the same time until the final two duelists are decided. We will then take a short break so that the duelists can rest up and give you all a duel worthy of the finals where the winner will be known as the best duelist in Delta Academy! Are you all ready?", the principal enthusiastically shouted.

With a large cheer from the crowd, Principal Tsubasa stepped more to the side and pulled out his own virtual datasheet, "Then without further ado, let's start. The first duelist chosen to try is Ryoko Mitsuya!"

The girl went up where the principal said and hit the red virtual button. After the screen above signalled that the pick was finalized, Ryoko went back to where Yuushi and Hikaru were standing.

Eventually the next two duelists were announced as the fourth duelist to pick a spot was Yuushi.

"Good luck, Yuushi!", Ayumi shouted out as Yuushi looked over to her.

The boy approached and hit the button just like everyone else as he walked back to his standing spot but now he was getting nervous and for a moment had his palm over his deck cover.

The sixth duelist to pick was Hikaru who pumped his fist into the air and cheered as people cheered with him, especially his younger sister.

After the final duelist picked, the screen above started to glow a faint red as everyone looked up. After a few moments, the names of duelists started to appear in the displayed tournament bracket as there was even a number to indicate what they had picked. The eight slots were filled out as everyone looked up in anticipation and a collective awe.

* * *

><p>As shown, the tournament bracket went as follows:<p>

1. Ryoko

2. Yuushi

3. Masaki

4. Kawamura

5. Sakura

6. Yamato

7. Raima

8. Hikaru

* * *

><p>All eight duelists briefly looked around the room as they eyeballed each other before the tension returned back to normal.<p>

"_Guess I picked two,"_ Yuushi observed to himself before looking over at Ryoko who looked back at him.

"It's us two against each other," Ryoko said with a smile.

Hikaru grinned a bit himself and looked over to the two of them, "Oh, good luck you two."

The first four duelists took the center stage and stood apart from each other. On the left side was Ryoko against Yuushi and on the other side was Masaki against Kawamura.

"Now the first round of the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament will begin! Duelists, prepare yourselves!"

As the principal finished, all the duelists activated their D-Gazer and got their decks ready.

"_I'm against Ryoko. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what sort of deck she has and right now, I don't think she'd tell me. Still, I have Endymion and if I really need to, I can use Arcanite Magician. I know that I can use it but the problem is that...will I eventually end up like those guys I saw on the t.v.," _Yuushi thought to himself as he activated the AR vision on his glasses.

"AR Vision, link established!", the mechanical female voice announced as even the audience was ready for the duel.

The D-Pads, D-Gazers and Duel Disks were now ready as the duelists got ready with their hand close to their deck

"Duelists, are you ready!", the principal shouted out to everyone. "If so, then..."

With a step back, Yuushi looked at Ryoko who prepared herself as well.

"Duel!"

Yuushi- 4000 LP

Ryoko- 4000 LP

"_Maybe my dad was right. He is a scientist after all...but still, no, it's not just him. Even I'm a bit worried about this card. What do I really know about it? My dad couldn't analyze it after it fell from the sky so nobody really knows where Arcanite Magician came from"_

After a bit of thought, he heard another voice from his opponent, "Yuushi, you know you have the first move right? Don't tell me you're nervous about this tournament now!"

Yuushi looked up at Ryoko and noticed that he hadn't even drawn his five cards. The audience started to mutter a bit as Yuushi realized that she was right.

"_It's not the tournament I'm worried about. In any case, I'll worry about Arcanite Magician a bit later but right now..."_

After a few quick swipes, Yuushi had drew his initial hand and shouted, "I have the first move. I draw!"

With a sixth swipe over his deck, Yuushi had started the first turn of the duel. I summon Defender the Magical Knight in ATK mode."

A card was materialized on the field near Yuushi as a warrior with a dagger appeared as it held a massive blue and golden shield encrusted with a red gem to its side. With nearly full body armor in a similar blue and golden fashion, the red gem started to glow as the shield was momentarily covered in a red aura (ATK: 1600, Level 4, SC: 1).

"Defender the Magical Knight's effect activities when it is normal summoned allowing it to gain a single Spell Counter," Yuushi declared as he got three other cards in his hand and added on, "In the magic and trap zone, I'll set down three cards. My turn's over!"

"My turn then, draw!", Ryoko announced as she now had six cards in her hand.

Looking at her hand, she liked what she saw. "First I activate the Field Spell, Divine Wind of Mist Valley!", the girl said while her Duel Disk opened up and revealing the slot where field spells went.

Yuushi knew the potential dangers of having an opponent control the battlefield and activated one of his set cards. "I use the Counter Trap, Magic Drain. I can negate the activation of a Spell Card, then destroy it afterwards but..."

Before Yuushi could finish his sentence, Ryoko sent a card from her hand to the graveyard as electricity surrounded the Counter Trap before it turned into pixels and disappeared.

"I know, I know. Normally if I let that go through, it would work as you said but that card gives me a choice. I can discard a Spell Card like Spring of Rebirth in order to negate your card. Come on, I've seen you duel a few times so I know that card already," she happily said.

The battlefield shook as a huge crack suddenly split Yuushi and Ryoko off from each other. The crack had a rainbow light contained within and as the crack got more severe and bigger, the light erupted from the ground blinding everyone nearby. As the light subsided, Yuushi noticed that he and Ryoko were standing on two different cliffs separated by a valley. The valley was the source of the rainbow light as Yuushi's hair started to sway with the sudden updraft that occurred.

"I activate the Spell Card, Winds of Change! This Spell Card can only be activated if Divine Wind of Mist Valley is on the field. Afterwards, I have to send a Winged-Beast Wind Attribute monster with 'Mist Valley' in its name to the graveyard and I choose Mist Valley Baby Roc. Right after though, I get to draw two cards."

Like Ryoko said, after sending her monster to the graveyard, a blast of wind flew from the valley picking up two of Ryoko's card from her deck with it as she caught both cards as they flew in the wind. Yuushi could hear the slight shriek of a bird as he looked around but saw no creatures.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Since Mist Valley Baby Roc was sent to the graveyard from my hand, I can special summon it to the field!"

As she finished, up above the clouds, Yuushi noticed a bird creature swoop in. It was a small red feathered bird although its head had no flesh and you could directly see its skull (ATK: 400, Level 2 Tuner).

Yuushi scowled a bit after seeing a tuner monster on the field already.

"_She's going to Synchro Summon...maybe I should too but..."_

"I also summon Sonic Duck."

With another cry from the winds, Yuushi noticed another monster joining Baby Roc above. This bird was a larger green one with a red scarf around its neck It finally landed on a tall mountain as Baby Roc was flying around it (ATK: 1700, Level 3).

"Now I tune Baby Roc with Sonic Duck!"

The bird emitted a final cry as the intensity of the wind increased and turned the monster into two shining stars which turned into two green rings surrounding Sonic Duck. The duck became transparent with an orange outline as it turned into three shining stars being surrounded by the two green rings.

"Watch as I summon the Synchro Monster, Vortex the Whirlwind!", Ryoko shouted as she put the Synchro Monster onto her Duel Disk.

As the card materialized, a brown female bird-human with green armor emerged as she flew in the sky. A trail of wind followed her as she spun her green chain above her in a circular fashion (ATK: 2100, Level 5).

Yuushi prepared himself for the inevitable attack as Ryoko looked up and said, "Get ready! Vortex, attack Defender the Magical Knight now!"

After spinning its chain around over its head to a high velocity, the chain shot out towards Defender as the tip was about to crash with Defender's shield. Yuushi's monster took a defensive stance as the chain crashed into the shield but it bounced off though Yuushi's monster was knocked back significantly as dust picked up on the ground as it slid. The dust consumed Yuushi for a second as it blew past him.

Yuushi- 3500 LP

Ryoko- 4000 LP

Grinning a slight bit, Yuushi explained, "Once per turn, I can remove a Spell Counter from Defender in so that it is not destroyed."

As Defender gained its footing once more, the monster took a heavy sigh (Defender SC: 0).

Ryoko nodded but added on, "But you still took battle damage off that. Anyways, I'll put this card facedown and then it's your move, Yuushi!"

With a nod of acknowledgement, Yuushi drew and looked at his card. Right afterwards though, Ryoko had already revealed her facedown card which was a trap. A brown tornado emerged out of the Trap Card as the tornado blew Yuushi's right set card into the air as it was blown right off the field.

The girl noticed the card and added on, "I just destroyed your Trap Card, Ready for Intercepting!"

Yuushi wasn't exactly pleased with Ready for Intercepting gone but went with the flow of things.

"I normal summon Alchemist of Black Spells in ATK mode!"

A spellcaster appeared that was wearing mostly dark-purple robes with gold trimmings on it. It's face was covered but on in its left hand, he was holding a small green scroll (ATK: 1200, Level 4).

Ayumi looked on from the stands, _"Two Level 4 Spellcasters, I know what monster Yuushi's knowing of."_

Yuushi watched excitedly as he shouted out his next summon, "I overlay Level 4 Defender the Magical Knight with Level 4 Alchemist Of Black Spells."

The red spiral portal opened up in the middle of the valley as Defender the Magical Knight turned into a slightly yellow glowing ray of light and Alchemist of Black Spells turned into a green ray as both were drawn into the portal. An explosion triggered as Yuushi's XYZ monster started to appear.

"I XYZ Summon, Flux Magician!"

The runed magician appeared out of the portal as it put its scroll on its back with two bright orbs surrounding it. (ATK: 1800, Rank 4, OU: 2)

Hikaru looked at Yuushi and Ryoko's duel with excitement, "Wow a battle between a Synchro and an XYZ. Yeah!"

Ryoko wasn't as excited though as Yuushi declared his monster's ability, "Once per turn, I can detach an Overlay Unit from Flux Magician to deal 400 points of damage to you and gain 400 Life Points. Additionally, Flux Magician gains a Spell Counter which will give him 400 more ATK."

Flux Magician roared as a surge of lightning hit Ryoko as she felt a slight shock before staggering back a bit (Flux ATK: 1800+400= 2200 ATK, OU: 1, SC: 1).

Yuushi- 3900 LP

Ryoko- 3600 LP

"Now I'll play Spell Power Grasp. My Flux Magician gain a Spell Counter and I can add another Spell Power Grasp from my deck to my hand, like so."

Looking through his deck for the same Spell Card, Yuushi found it and revealed it to Ryoko before adding it to his hand (Flux ATK: 2200+400= 2600 ATK, SC: 2).

Yuushi wasn't finished though he waited for Ryoko to stand up firmly on both feet before moving on, "I attack Vortex the Whirlwind, your only monster, with Flux Magician!"

As Flux Magician charged up another blast of lightning, Yuushi revealed his Trap Card, Magician's Circle, as the runes on his Spellcaster started to glow. A green complex magical circle with yellow and red patterns appeared beside Flux Magician as Magical Marionette appeared. The red-caped puppeteer brought out its wooden puppet as it chuckled (ATK: 2000, Level 5).

"The Trap Card, Magician's Circle, allows me to look through my deck and special summon a Spellcaster-type monster with 2000 or less ATK when a Spellcaster declares an attack. Of course, you can special summon a monster if you have a Spellcaster with 2000 or less ATK too," Yuushi said as he hoped Ryoko didn't have any.

Ryoko paused for a moment and looked through her deck, "Nope, no Spellcasters here."

With that, she put her deck back as the Duel Disk shuffled it.

After the shuffling was over, Flux Magician's hands were surrounded with lightning as it shot out bolts of lightning destroying Vortex the Whirlwind as a blast of wind knocked her back again.

Yuushi- 3900 LP

Ryoko- 3100 LP

Though the wind was howling, Yuushi could still hear Ryoko declare something, "When Vortex is destroyed in battle and goes to the graveyard, I can special summon a level 4 or lower Winged-Beast monster from my deck."

After a few moments the wind stopped and revealed a white-haired human except it had brown wings and was holding a sword in one hand and a targe in the other (ATK: 2000, Level 4).

"_That's Mist Valley Falcon. Ryoko can't declare an attack unless she sends a card on the field that she controls to her hand. On the other hand, my Magical Marionette still has a lot more potential left in it and can beat out Mist Valley Falcon next turn. Besides, a 2000 ATK monster is pretty nice and it has a powerful ability," _Yuushi reasoned to himself as he ended the battle phase without announcing a second attack.

Looking at Flux Magician, Yuushi kept thinking for a moment, _"As for Flux Magician, I'd also better keep the ATK points. 2600 ATK is good not only for the high value but it should help against the ace of the Mist Valley deck"_

"My turn's over!", Yuushi shouted.

As Yuushi called for the end of his turn, suddenly he heard several explosions followed by a deep echoing chuckle. Both Ryoko and himself noticed it as the thunderous boom from the explosion distracted both of them as the explosions kept continuing one by one.

After turning their heads, a huge cloud of smoke from the other duel covered their own battle. They found out the source of the rapid booms were from the other duel, more specifically a rain of cannonballs from above blasting the other battlefield. Through the black smoke, they noticed something with a red eye as they heard the shout of a gun being shot through the smoke.

"_What's happening over there?"_, wondered Yuushi as the laughter and cannonballs ceased with the other duel being finished.

A boy with light brown hair was walking away silently with his right arm raised in victory as he put it back down. On the other hand, the other orange-yellow haired boy was looking on before sighing to himself.

Masaki- 2800 LP- WIN

Kawamara- 0 LP

Principal Tsubasa shouted, "The second duel's winner, Masaki Otobe!"

While the other duel concluded, Yuushi and Ryoko looked back to each other.

"Guess whoever wins here will face Masaki then," Yuushi said to her.

Ryoko drew a card and looked, "Yeah and that person will be me."

Yuushi prepared himself for the possibility that Ryoko just drew a great card.

"I'll put this card face down first," the girl stated as a card appeared in her Spell/Trap zone as she summoned a monster, "Now let's summon out the tuner, Mist Valley Shaman."

Beside Mist Valley Falcon, a black armored female bird-human with white robes and yellow hair emerged as Yuushi noticed that she had yellow gloves too, or so he thought as they were really the monster's feathers. The feathers were connected to her hands as he noticed that the hands were really claws (ATK: 1200, Level 3 Tuner)

"I use Mist Valley Shaman's ability! Once a turn this card gains 500 ATK until my end phase if I send another monster I control to my hand like Mist Valley Falcon," she announced.

Mist Valley Falcon turned into a light green beam that went back to Ryoko's hand as the wind of the valley picked up. The shaman also started to faintly glow with a faint green aura (Mist Shaman ATK: 1200+500= 1700 ATK)

"What's the point of that? You have less monsters now so you can't tune that tuner monster with anything," Yuushi said to Ryoko.

The girl looked around the field a bit in response as the rainbow light in the valley erupted. Yuushi looked on with amazement then surprise as he saw an image form in front of him. The rainbow image and the wind faded away revealing a second Mist Valley Falcon (ATK: 2000, Level 4).

"You see Yuushi, once a turn thanks to the effect of Divine Wind of Mist Valley, if a faceup Wind monster I have returns to my hand, I can special summon another Level 4 or lower Wind monster to take its place from my deck!"

Yuushi analyzed the point of that move as he realized that she basically expanded the size of her hand with another monster now for basically no cost. _"So that's what this Field Spell does..."_

With a smile, Ryoko continued, "I'm going to tune Mist Valley Shaman with my Mist Valley Falcon."

On her command, Mist Valley Shaman closed its eyes as it turned into three shining orbs that surrounded Mist Valley Falcon before turning into three green rings. Mist Valley Falcon took flight as the rings followed him before he turned transparent and disappeared leaving behind four shining orbs parallel and in-between the rings. A bright light shot through the rings as the Divine Wind of Mist Valley picked up. The sky slowly turned black as clouds were changing shape while Yuushi and his monsters looked up.

"The power of Mist Valley graces through the winds! Soaring above with the strength of the storms! Synchro Summon! Descend, Mist Valley Thunder Lord!"

A thunderbolt shot down in front of her as a flash of light rose from the struck location. There was a yellow flash and suddenly black wings emerged from the lightning as it faded. Attached to the wings was a large green-golden muscular birdman. It had a small red-orange crown with similarly colored markings on its chest and back as it spread out its arms revealing metal hooks at the end of both arms (ATK: 2600, Level 7).

Yuushi looked at his hand and noticed that he didn't have any monsters as he looked back at Mist Valley Thunder Lord. _"Yep, that looks like the ace of the Mist Valley archetype all right. I just hope that it is and that Ryoko doesn't have something I've never heard of in a Mist Valley deck..."_

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Winds of Change

Spell Card

This card can only be activated is there is a 'Divine Wind of Mist Valley' faceup on the field. Send 1 "Mist Valley" Winged-Beast monster that is WIND Attribute from your hand to the graveyard, then draw 2 cards.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10 Preview<strong>

Hikaru: Phew, we got past the elimination rounds.

Yuushi: Don't let your guard down, it'll be tougher from here on out.

Ryoko: Those cannonballs though, just what cards did he use?

Ayumi: Hey, Ryoko. Yuushi's pretty good so you'd better pay attention to your duel.

Ryoko: I know, I know. Yuushi, you'd better pay attention yourself you know

Yuushi: Chapter 10: Brewing Storms. Looks like this duel is about to get good, but there's just one thing...


	11. Chapter 10: Brewing Storms

A flash of lightning reminded Yuushi that the situation wasn't good. His opponent had control of the field with her Ace Monster out though Yuushi tried to analyze his next move.

"First of all, I activate Mist Valley Thunder Lord's effect. Once per turn until the end of the turn, on either of our turns, this card can gain 500 ATK until the end of my turn by returning a card I control to my hand. I choose my facedown card!", Ryoko announced as the sound of the blasting winds drowned out the last parts of her sentence.

Sure enough, a card on Ryoko's field was caught in an updraft as it was added back to her hand. Mist Valley Thunder Lord screeched out as it prepared to attack (Thunder Lord ATK: 2600+500= 3100 ATK).

Yuushi was taken aback as he was preparing for the attack but Ryoko seemed to shift her head slightly back and forth between Yuushi's two monsters.

"_I know that Yuushi has a Spell Power Grasp as one of the two cards left in his hand. That card is a lot of trouble right now. If I destroy his Flux Magician, he will play it on Magical Marionette which then gets to destroy my monster during that same turn with its effect and it'll drop to 2000 ATK. On the other hand if I destroy Magical Marionette now, he'll just use Spell Power Grasp on Flux Magician and add a Spell Counter on top of that by using Flux Magician's effect giving it 3400 ATK," _she reasoned to herself.

Ryoko looked again at the two monsters as she lowered her eyes onto her hand before making her decision.

"_With 3400 ATK, I won't be able to get through that at all with this hand...besides even if Magical Marionette destroys my monster, I'll have a counter to it during my next turn since it'll only have 2000 ATK. This'll be a bit risky since if Yuushi gets another on the field, I might lose."_

Wutih a plan in her mind now, Ryoko pointed at Flux Magician and commanded, "Attack Flux Magician now!"

The Thunder Lord flew around in the sky as it gave off a final screech. With a thunderbolt roaring through the skies, Mist Valley Thunder Lord raised up its hands. The next lightning bolt struck Thunder Lord but surprisingly, the monster caught the lightning in mid-air and started to harness its power as its hands started to flash yellow. Thrusting out both its hands, the monster shot out a beam of lightning straight at Flux Magician who shot back a blast of lightning but was quickly overpowered as the area around Yuushi's monster exploded. The boy was blasted back onto the ground but managed to get up after a brief moment.

Yuushi- 3400 LP

Ryoko-3100 LP

Seeing her opponent recover, Ryoko continued her turn by placing setting back her card in the Spell/Trap Zone as she nodded.

"With that card set again, I'll end my turn then," Ryoko hesitantly said knowing that Yuushi already had an answer for her last move (Thunder Lord ATK: 3100-500= 2600 ATK).

"_Even if Yuushi does a bit of damage, hopefully I'll make sure he gets some of my payback with __interest,"_ she thought to herself.

In the audience, Ayumi and Natsumi were watching the duel as well as Natsumi seemed a bit scared.

"That monster is really scary,"| the young girl said while shivering a bit.

Ayumi nodded and looked at the duel seeing Yuushi about to start his turn. "Don't worry. That monster won't harm you or anyone else. If it does, I'll protect you. Does that sound good?", Ayumi said trying to reassure the girl.

With a nod, Natsumi smiled back, "Ok. Thank you."

Back to the duel, Yuushi studied the situation as he put his fingers on the top card of his deck. "Here's my draw phase!", the boy confidently said. With a movement of his hand, Yuushi took a look at the card and nodded to himself.

Suddenly, a female voice interrupted him from across the duel as a Trap Card revealed itself. With a sudden blast of wind, Yuushi's drawn card fell to the ground and disappeared as he looked at the trap. It had an image of something hitting a person's hand causing it to drop a sword onto the ground.

Ryoko smiled as she explained, "Yuushi, when you draw a card during your Draw Phase, I can activate this trap causing you to discard that card right to the graveyard."

Looking at Rapid-Fire Magician, the boy duelist reluctantly sent the card to the graveyard slot of the Duel Disk as he looked at the two remaining cards in his hand. He had no monsters left so he had no choice but to skip a summon this turn as he grabbed another card and played it.

"Here's my second Spell Power Grasp. Once again, a monster on my field like Magical Marionette gains a Spell Counter and I can add the final Spell Power Grasp from my deck to my hand," Yuushi calmly stated.

The Duel Disk answered in response as a card stuck out of the Duel Disk before auto-shuffling itself. After revealing Spell Power Grasp to Ryoko, a faint white-purple light surrounded Magical Marionette and its puppet.

Ryoko knew what was happening but Yuushi explained it just incase she did not, "In addition to Spell Power Grasp giving my monster a Spell Counter, my Spell Card itself gives it another Spell Counter. Whenever a Spell Card is activated, Magical Marionette gains a Spell Counter. Thus it gains a Spell Counter for its own effect and one for Spell Power Grasp's effect. This gives it two Spell Counters. Furthermore, Magical Marionette gains 200 ATK for each Spell Counter on it (Marionette ATK: 2000+200+200= 2400 ATK, SC: 2)

Yuushi raised up his hand dramatically as he shouted out, "I'll activate the other effect of Magical Marionette. By removing two Spell Counters on this card, it can destroy a monster on the field. That Mist Valley Thunder Lord is my target!"

Magical Marionette smiled sinisterly as it shot out white strings towards Mist Valley Thunder Lord who tried to evade but was eventually tied down. The strings and Magical Marionette started to glow dark purple as Mist Valley Thunder Lord exploded causing a blast covering Mist Valley. The thunderstorm above still persisted through as Yuushi looked on (Marionette ATK: 2400-200-200= 2000 ATK, SC: 0).

"Using Magical Marionette, I attack you directly Ryoko!"

Upon hearing these words, Yuushi's monster shot out its sword-wielding puppet. The puppet grinned and quickly made its way over to his opponent as it leaped up into the air and slashed down twice, one with each of its swords. Ryoko was staggered back but recovered as she looked on a bit worried.

Yuushi- 3400 LP

Ryoko- 1100 LP

"Not bad, Yuushi," Ryoko said complimenting him.

Yuushi nodded to her back. "Thanks, but I end my turn now," he stated as the puppet returned.

Ryoko's turn start as she drew a card and looked at it. She immediately played the card she drew as a monster started to appear. A yellow bird appeared with yellow feathers all over its body except for the tips of the tail which extended out with orange feathers. It also had a whip-like line of feathers sticking out of its head (ATK: 1100, Level 3).

"I summon Mist Valley Thunderbird but there's going to be a lot more," the girl started to say as the winds of Mist Valley got stronger as Ryoko revealed another card in her hand. The wind picked up as white mist started to surround the two duelists and with one gust, the white mist faded. Something strange happened as Mist Valley Thunderbird disappeared off the field as Yuushi heard the cry of another bird up above. He looked up and noticed a blue bird with feathers of red, white and black surrounding its neck and tail (ATK: 1400, Level 4).

Putting Mist Valley Thunderbird back into her hand for a moment, Ryoko explained what had occurred, "Mist Condor up there can be special summoned by returning a faceup 'Mist Valley' monster I control to my hand. Here's where things get a bit tricky now."

The white mist completely faded but Mist Valley Thunderbird was still on the field despite Ryoko's earlier explanation. Furthermore, Mist Condor shrieked as its attacked increased (ATK: 1700).

Yuushi was a bit stunned and asked, "I thought Mist Valley Thunderbird returned to your hand in order to special summon Mist Condor so how is it back on the field? Not only that but Mist Condor got stronger as a result or something?"

"Good eye, Yuushi. First, when Mist Condor is special summoned using its effect, its ATK becomes 1700 instead of 1400. Additionally, Mist Valley Thunderbird's effect also activated during that chain. When Thunderbird is returned to my hand, I can special summon it again but when this effect is used, Thunderbird can't attack this turn which is fine since..."

Before Ryoko could finish her explanation, the wind again picked up from inside a canyon of Mist Valley. Yuushi took a minute to figure out what was happening but after seeing this effect once, he had a good guess.

"That's right. Your field spell allows you to special summon another Wind monster from your deck as long as another Wind monster like your Mist Valley Thunderbird goes back to your hand. This was initially caused by Mist Condor...", the boy said with a bit of hesitation.

Ryoko already looked through her deck for the card she wanted and started to summon it out. "Yeah and the monster I want to summon is going to be the Tuner Monster, Mist Valley Soldier!"

The wind intensified to such a degree that Yuushi had to plant his feet as a somewhat elderly blue-haired winged-human with white-blue wings and a dark blue scarf flew up through the valley. It pulled out two daggers as the monster landed near Ryoko who prepared her next move (ATK: 1700, Level 4 Tuner).

The clouds darkened once more as Yuushi looked on with amazement as the wind settled but the atmosphere was still as tense as ever. _"All this with just sending Mist Valley Thunderbird back to her hand,"_ Yuushi analyzed inside his mind as a thunderbolt from above broke his concentration.

"I'm going to attack with all I've got, Yuushi! I'm tuning Mist Valley Soldier and Mist Valley Thunderbird together!", she shouted to the skies.

The clouds above responded to her cry as the area turned slightly darker. Mist Valley Soldier flew into the skies before turning into four rings surrounding Mist Valley Thunderbird who faded into three stars. A bright light lit up the valley as a thunderbolt stuck down on it.

"The power of Mist Valley graces through the winds! Soaring above with the strength of the storms!"

This brewing storm was familiar to Yuushi as it had already happened once in the duel but he was still taken back by this surprise. There was only one monster Yuushi could estimate if a Level 7 Synchro monster of Mist Valley was being summoned.

"Synchro Summon! Descend, Mist Valley Thunder Lord!", Ryoko cried out as she finished her summoning chant.

Like before, the large green-gold birdman appeared through the clouds and onto the battlefield with a noticeable shriek (ATK: 2600, Level 7).

"That means you have two Mist Valley Thunder Lords?"_,_ Yuushi yelled out.

As the summon finished, Ryoko chuckled lightly, "Took me a long while to get another one but as you can see, I finally got another Mist Valley Thunder Lord in my deck. Like before, I'm going to use it's effect and return Divine Wind of Mist Valley to my hand so it gains an extra 500 ATK."

On Ryoko's Duel Disk, a slot popped open as she took out her Field Spell and put it back into her hand. The valley faded as the duelists returned back to the school setting of Delta Academy. With a bright yellow aura, Ryoko's Thunder Lord monster was powered up (ATK: Thunder Lord ATK: 2600+500= 3100 ATK).

"Now then, Thunder Lord, attack Yuushi's Magical Marionette with Thunder Stream!"

On her command, lightning struck from the clouds as Mist Valley Thunder Lord absorbed the energy into its hands and fired it off at Yuushi's monster. In a yellow flash, the attack struck the monster as an explosion triggered immediately afterwards. The smoke covered Yuushi who put his hands in front of him to cover himself from the smoke as he had one eye shut momentarily.

Yuushi- 2300 LP

Ryoko- 1100 LP

Ryoko pointed at her other monster and declared another attack. "Mist Condor! Attack Yuushi directly!"

The blue cried out and dove in from the sky. Yuushi saw it zig-zag as it finally disappeared. The bird's wing was then coated with a yellow glow as it flew into Yuushi with a wing stretched out. The wing collided with Yuushi's body knocking him down as Mist Condor flew back into the air once more.

Yuushi- 600 LP

Ryoko- 1100 LP

Yuushi got back up as Ryoko studied her hand for a moment. "Alright, just one last thing before I end my turn. I'll play Divine Wind of Mist Valley again and then I end my turn!"

The Field Spell activated once more as the battlefield returned to the familiar atmosphere of a valley surrounded by strong winds (Thunder Lord ATK: 3100-500= 2600 ATK). Ryoko looked at Yuushi's hand which contained two cards similar to her hand. She had two monsters but wasn't quite sure what Yuushi had.

She tried to deduce the situation as she knew one of the cards in his hand was Spell Power Grasp. _"Even if Yuushi summons a decently powerful monster, I can always return Mist Condor back using Mist Valley Thunder Lord's effect. Flux Magician and Blast Magician are good but they don't have quite the firepower needed. His only chance right now would be Endymion but with only three cards after his Draw Phase, summoning him from nothing would be quite the feat. I'm in good shape then."_

For a moment, Yuushi was thinking about his next move as well while looking at his deck. His cards were Spell Power Grasp and Synchro Boost. _"That Thunder Lord can boost its ATK to 3100. No card in my deck has the firepower to take that out one against one. My extra deck on the other hand has something though. The only problem is, what will happen if I use it? Will I end up like those other Numbers users? No, what if there's something else I'm not even aware of which surrounds Arcanite Magician."_

He looked around him and saw Ayumi in the audience, Hikaru watching on the sides and Ryoko as his opponent. They were all awaiting Yuushi's next move as the boy shook his head.

"_Everyone's watching me and I know that no matter what happens, these are the people who have helped me out. These are the people who I've helped out. To them, I owe them the respect of giving it my all. As a friend and as a duelist, it would be rude of me to hold back anything I have so I'll do it."_

"I draw!", Yuushi yelled out as he added another card in his hand which was a Spell Card.

"Not quite what I'm looking for but," the duelist with the glasses said to himself coming up with another plan, "I play the Spell Card known as Pot of Avarice."

The Spell Card appeared in front of Yuushi with the picture of an purple monstrous jar with its tongue sticking out.

"This card lets me choose five monsters in my graveyard so the monsters I choose are Alchemist of Black Spells, Flux Magician, Defender the Magical Knight, Rapid-Fire Magician and Magical Marionette. All of them except Flux Magician will go back into my deck while Flux Magician goes back to my extra deck."

Yuushi's graveyard slotted out the five named monsters as Yuushi put them all where he said he would as his deck's auto-shuffle function activated.

"After that, I draw two cards!", he said when the shuffling finished.

With an intense look, Yuushi drew the first card which was Magical Exemplar and then drew another monster and smiled. Noticing this, Ryoko tilted her head and wondered what he just drew.

"I summon Magical Exemplar to the field!"

Another card appeared on the field in front of Yuushi. This monster was a priestess with teal robes and white gloves as she opened her eyes and observed the battlegrounds of Mist Valley (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"Next I add an Equip Spell to Magical Exemplar, specifically Synchro Boost. With this card, Magical Examplar gains 500 ATK and 1 Level," he added on.

The Equip Spell Card appeared and a small field of blue electricity coated Magical Exemplar as the monster powered up (Exemplar ATK: 1700+500= 2200 ATK, Level 4+1= 5).

Right after the electricity, two orbs of light surrounded the priestess as well while Yuushi further told Ryoko what was happening. "Since a Spell card was just played, my monster gains two Spell Counters (Exemplar SC: 2). Also, I'll use it's other effect and remove both counters. This lets me special summon a Spellcaster monster from my hand or graveyard as long as it it Level Two. I've got one right here in my hand, so I special summon Frequency Magician!"

A magician with a purple cape and white gauntlets appeared. The monster was also wearing a strange white helmet with a black visor as it emitted strange waves of energy (ATK: 800, Level 2).

"To be able to Synchro Summon at a time like this," Yuushi's opponent said in a bit stunned while trying to figure out what monster he was trying to summon.

"Let's do this! Time to breakthrough your defenses! I tune my Level 2 Frequency Magician with my now Level 5 Magical Exemplar.

Right after that, Frequency Magician turned into two spheres of light that turned into two green rings surrounding Magical Exemplar. The priestess levitated and turned into five white lights in which a pillar of light from the sky engulfed the rings.

"A magician matched only in the mythic era! The illuminating force from the cosmic legends! Synchro Summon! Appear, Arcanite Magician!"

The Synchro Monster appeared in front of everyone. Hikaru seemed baffled since he's never seen Yuushi summon that monster before. The audience looked on at the blue-armored magician with as much confusion. Ayumi could hear a lot of whispering about that card as did Yuushi who chose to ignore the whispering around him. Arcanite Magician swung its green staff and prepared for battle noticing the large bird creatures in front of it (ATK: 400, Level 7).

When the summon finished, Hikaru tilted his head sideways and asked out loud, "What the hell is that?"

Ayumi looked around and chuckled a bit, _"Guess you decided to use Arcanite Magician. Good for you, Yuushi."_

On the field, Ryoko took a step back in the presence of this monster knowing that she saw it somewhere and began to think of various questions. "Wait a minute, that monster was seen in the news. You have one too? Where'd you get it?"

Closing his eyes, Yuushi couldn't really answer that question since after all, he wasn't quite sure either. "Well, I'll tell you afterwards but that was actually me on the news. But right now, shouldn't you be worried about what's in front of you since my Arcanite Magician gains 1000 ATK for each Spell Counter on it and it has two right now (Arcanite ATK: 400+1000+1000= 2400 ATK, SC: 2). Not only that but," Yuushi started to say before showing another card in his hand, "I play my third and final Spell Power Grasp in my hand. It gives my Arcanite Magician another Spell Counter but I can't add another one to my hand since that was my last one."

The monster's staff glowed green as it was now surrounded by a green aura of power. With its arms in a battle stance, Yuushi knew that he currently had the monster with the most ATK on the field now (Arcanite ATK: 2400+1000= 3400 ATK, SC: 2+1= 3).

Ryoko gasped for a moment after seeing a monster with 3400 ATK but looked back at her hand and field while calming down.

On the other hand, Yuushi took a deep breath as he thought over his next move. _"I could win the duel if I attack Mist Condor and deal 1700 points of battle damage but Ryoko can call use Mist Valley Thunder Lord's effect to bounce the card back to her hand. In that case, Mist Valley Thunder Lord is my target."_

With a swing of his arm, Yuushi pointed out something, "I activate Arcanite Magician's effect. I remove a Spell Counter on this card and then my Synchro Monster can destroy a card you control. Go, Arcanite Magician! Use Pulsar Wave on Mist Valley Thunder Lord!"

By using up a Spell Counter (Arcanite ATK: 3400-1000=2400 ATK, SC: 3-1= 2), Arcanite Magician's staff radiated a green light that shone through Mist Valley. With the sound of wind being sliced, the Spellcaster monster released waves of green energy that sliced through the Thunder Lord which destroyed it.

The resulting explosion caused Ryoko to shield herself from flying back but Yuushi pointed at her other monster, Mist Condor. "Arcanite Magician's effect can be used multiple times per turn. I use that same effect again! Pulsar Wave!"

"What?", the girl shouted with disbelief.

Another flash of light shot out from Arcanite Magician's staff as similar green shockwaves of energy fired out of the weapon. The green waves sliced Mist Condor causing it to turn into pixels and disappear off the field (Arcanite ATK: 2400-1000=1400 ATK, SC: 2-1= 1).

"Go, Arcanite Magician! Attack Ryoko directly with Starlight Horizon!"

Magical energy started to crackle at the tip of the wand as a blue-green sphere of energy was forming. The sphere grew larger and larger until Arcanite Magician shot it out at Ryoko. The attack collided with the girl who screamed out while flying through the air. She managed to land on her back without any serious injuries. The end signal of a duel sounded off with a display of the score.

Yuushi- 600 LP- WIN

Ryoko- 0 LP

The buzzer-like noise concluded as Yuushi's Arcanite Magician and Ryoko's Divine Wind of Mist Valley digitized into pixels returning both duelists to Delta Academy.

Already standing by was Principal Tsubasa who officially announced the results, "The winner and the one to advance to the next round, Yuushi Sakudo!"

The audience clapped and erupted out as both duels were finished. Both the spectators and nearby duelists were chatting amongst themselves after seeing the type of duel that developed in front of their eyes. Ryoko managed to get up with a scowl on her face but that quickly disappeared into a chuckle. By the time she got up, Yuushi walked up to her with a smile on his face too.

Ryoko chuckled again, "I guess you were the better duelist today but I still had fun, a lot of fun."

"Same, thanks for that. You helped me realize something," Yuushi admitted while putting away Arcanite Magician.

The female duelist didn't quite know what he was talking about but the two of them left the stage.

Later on, the next duels started. Sakura against Yamato was taking place on the left side and Raima against Hikaru was taking place on the right side. All four duelists had drawn their cards and were at 4000 Life Points a piece.

"Duel!", the four of them collectively shouted out.

This time it was Yuushi and Ryoko's turns to watch Hikaru now. Sakura and Yamato had an interesting duel as well as Sakura used a Ninja-themed deck and Yamato was using a Warrior deck. It was taking some time since both of them were exchanging blows at about equal rates.

"So what happened with that Arcanite Magician card at the mall? You said it was yours right?", Ryoko curiously asked.

Yuushi did promise to tell her and so while Hikaru was dueling, he did. First he explained about the weird fortune teller, then the mall and the duel while concluding with the Numbers and Arcanite Magician.

"I know this is probably something I know the answer to already but I'll ask it anyways. Do you know anything about the Numbers or Arcanite Magician?", asked Yuushi.

Crossing her arms and thinking for a moment she answered back, "Sorry but I only heard of Numbers through the media like you and I don't know anything about Arcanite Magician, I didn't even know its effect. That was a nice move at the end that you pulled off though"

"But I just got a bit lucky," Yuushi admitted to her.

"Luck or not, you won didn't you? Just try to get that lucky against Masaki. From what I've gathered around the area, he's a second year duelist at Delta Academy but he's really good nevertheless," she said bluntly.

Her statement caught Yuushi's attention since he concluded that Ryoko knew something about him. "What do you mean by that?"

Ryoko looked up at the roof for a moment and answered back, "From what I hear, Reiji is the best duelist in the area and even recognized throughout Heartland and beyond as a great duelist. However, you know that he went on the trip overseas so he can't exactly participate in this tournament. With Reiji gone, many people say that at Delta, Masaki is the strongest duelist now and the favorite to win. I've heard that Masaki is about pro-level himself after ranking fairly high in several tournaments and even winning a few low-profile ones."

The boy pondered something else and replied, "Any advice for me when I face him?"

"You mean Reiji or Masaki? Well either way, both of them are really heavy users of XYZ monsters. That's about all I got, sorry about that," the girl said with a slight bit of regret in her voice.

"No, you're been helpful," Yuushi said trying to reassure her, "It was more information that I had to start with."

Hikaru and Raima's duel was coming to a close as Hikaru entered the Battle Phase with his Laval monsters. His opponent had the Permanent Trap Card ,Wattcannon along with a Batteryman D in DEF mode (DEF: 1900, Level 4). Hikaru has two monsters on his side of the field, Lavalval Chain (ATK: 1800. Rank 4) and Laval Dual Slasher (ATK: 2400, Level 5). Raima had one card in his hand and Hikaru had two.

Hikaru- 1400 LP

Raima- 2500 LP

Seeing that Lavalval Chain doesn't have enough attack, Hikaru went with his other monster.

"I attack Batteryman D with Laval Dual Slasher. Since I have more than three Laval monsters in my graveyard, even if I attack a DEF mode monster with Laval Dual Slasher, you take the piercing damage!", Hikaru shouted.

Hikaru's golem monster had two huge blades sticking out of its elbows as it charged forward. With a single swing of its elbow blades, the yellow and black battery with green body parts was slashed down casuing electricity to flow throughout the field.

Hikaru- 1400 LP

Raima- 2000 LP

"_I can't defend against Lavalval Chain. I guess I'll have to take the hit,"_ thought Raima as he focused on the roaring dragon.

Nevertheless, Hikaru was still focused on his golem monster as he looked intensely at Raima. He turned his head for a moment to see Natsumi in the audience near Ayumi still and nodded to his sister, "I activate another effect of Laval Dual Slasher. Since I have more than three Laval monsters in the grave, and I just attacked a monster in DEF mode, this card can attack for a second time! Laval Dual Slasher, show him your burning might and attack directly!"

Raima stood for a moment shocked at Hikaru's explanation and just muttered the words, "You've got to be kidding...just like that I lost."

Similar to before, Laval Dual Slasher ran up to the opposing duelist and did a vertical slash causing Raima to fall to one knee in defeat.

Hikaru- 1400 LP- WIN

Raima- 0 LP

"Your winner, Hikaru Aoki!", the principal declared

Hikaru pointed up to the roof and then turned his finger into a fist and shouted out a cry of victory. The audience felt Hikaru's spirit and cheered out loud along with him. The most supportive though came from near Ayumi as Hikaru could feel Natsumi cheering for him the loudest.

"That's my big brother!," she shouted out with joy.

Seeing her smile, Ayumi couldn't help herself and grinned a bit too.

As Hikaru made his way over to Yuushi and Ryoko, people start to talk as well. Natsumi overheard the general conversation and smiled after seeing her brother duel. The crowd was complimenting Hikaru's strength and was saying he would likely be another powerful duelist in the school.

The other duel was just about over as both duelists had a low amount of Life Points left as Sakura declared her attack. Both had one monster and if the attack connected, she would be declared the winner.

"Blade Armor Ninja! Attack Armony Arm!", she declared.

Yamato smirked and revealed his Trap Card, "You ran right into it. Now your monster is about to get its body blown in by Sakuretsu Armor!"

The Trap Card attached a shiny coating to Armony Arm as the ninja started to rush in and unsheathed its sword out.

With a motion of her arms, Sakura revealed her own facedown Trap Card. "I activate Trap Stun which negates the effect of all other Trap Cards on the field this turn."

The ninja did a few hand signs as the shining armor shattered and feel to the ground before disappearing as the now-armorless Armory Arm was slashed in half by the female duelist's purple and black armored ninja.

Sakura- 800 LP- WIN

Yamato- 0 LP

"Sakura Fubuta is your winner!"

The crowd clapped as the girl closed her eyes and sighed before walking off the dueling stage.

After a few moments of rest, Principal Tsubasa made his way to the center again with another announcement. "Now the final four have been decided. The semi-final duels will be Yuushi against Masaki and the other duel will be Sakura against Hikaru. Duelists, are you ready?"

On the left Yuushi and Masaki prepared while on the right, Sakura and Hikaru did so as well. Ryoko in the meanwhile joined Ayumi and Natsumi in the audience as she looked on.

"Oh, you must be Natsumi. Hikaru's talked about you," Ryoko said trying to introduce herself

The girl nodded and answered back, "You're Ryoko right? Wow, you must be a really good duelist if you made it that far."

Ryoko felt a bit embarassed and chuckled, "Thanks."

Ayumi looked at both duels but concentrated more on Yuushi's duel while looking at Ryoko, "Who's his opponent Ryoko? Do you know?"

She nodded her head and responded back, "The only thing I really know is that people consider Masaki to be the favorite to win and that he's been the winner of a few small tournaments and considered pro-level."

"Oh, really? Then Yuushi needs to really be in top form then," she replied back as they all watched.

"_Pro-level, must be interesting for him at least," _Ayumi thought to herself as she looked down to the ground for a moment and clenched her fist nervously while letting out a sad sigh to herself.

The four duelists had their decks shuffled by their Duel Disks as they stared at their opponents.

"_Let's see if he's as good as people say. I'm interested in his deck now. I just need to keep my guard up and duel," _Yuushi thought with a focused glare on his face.

The light-brown haired opponent looked on and was wearing a ragged grey undershirt and a brown and white long-sleeved shirt over that. Likewise, Masaki had his own glare as he got a read of Yuushi. _"Yuushi Sakudo. Last duel, he played that Arcanite Magician or whatever. A tough monster but if that's his only trick, I'll win this."_

On the other end, Sakura stared down Hikaru, _"A Laval duelist. He's certainly got a lot of passion but I'll be the one to advance."_

Hikaru looked at his deck as it stopped shuffling then at his opponent. _"She looks harmless enough but I can't be deceived by that. She made it all the way here just like the rest of us so I have to go all out here."_

All four decks stopped shuffling now as they each drew five cards a piece and prepared themselves. As if no words had to be spoken between them all, they all got ready and began.

"Duel!"

* * *

><p>Yuushi- 4000 LP<p>

Masaki- 4000 LP

* * *

><p>Hikaru- 4000 LP<p>

Sakura- 4000 LP

* * *

><p>"I'll start things off", Masaki said to his opponent and drew a card.<p>

"I summon Dreadeye Sailor!", he declared.

As he put the card on his Duel Disk, a zombie appeared with blue decaying skin. Surprisingly, this pirate didn't have an artificial limbs and the only strange thing was that it had an eerie glow. The zombie was still humanoid and had both arms and legs and even had a modified cutlass with a larger handle. The monster also had a long white shirt and blue pants and a white bandana (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

"I'll set these two cards down here and that's it for now," the older duelist said as two cards materialized near him

Yuushi nodded and began. He looked at his hand and it seemed decent enough. _"I'll start things off a bit more aggressively and see how he reacts."_

"I draw!, Yuushi said while raising his hand up in the air and holding a card, "First of all, I activate the Field Spell, Magical Citadel of Endymion!"

The Field Spell was put into its appropriate location as the area around the duelists shook and started to change. The scene transformed to that of an ancient city. The most noticeable feature was the large tower in the center as well as other towers on the large citadel's edge. A white-pink barrier surrounded the city as Masaki looked on somewhat impressed for a quick moment.

Even Yuushi liked how the citadel looked as he reached for another card and called out, "I use my normal summon to summon out Blast Magician!"

At his call, a magician with a robe big enough to cover his head appeared. He had an ambitious smile on his face while he was also wearing purple light armor underneath the robes and wielded a scythe-like weapon. A red mist surrounded him as he swung his weapon once (ATK: 1400, Level 4).

"On top of that, I play a Continuous Spell, Arcane Barrier!"

One of the statues in the citadel's center activated releasing a white magical wave that stretched to the boundaries of the citadel. White-purple markings appeared in the sky and reinforced the citadel. The large tower in the center of the Magical Citadel of Endymion reacted as glyphs started to form on it (Citadel SC: 1). Not only that, but Blast Magician also emitted a faint red mist as an image of fire surrounded him for a second (Blast SC: 1)

"When either of us activates a Spell Card, my Field Spell and also my monster gains a Spell Counter," Yuushi calmly explained.

"Next, I discard a card in my hand in order to special summon The Tricky!", was the next move the younger duelist declared.

Endymion the Master Magician was sent to the graveyard as The Tricky appeared onto the field. With a blue cape fluttering in the wind, a strange jester wearing all yellow and black appeared on Yuushi's field. On its face and chest were two large questions marks as it laughed out loud (ATK: 2000, Level 5).

Yuushi looked over at the pirate monster, "The Tricky, attack Dreadeye Sailor!"

The Tricky stood there for a moment as it raised up a hand. With a quick snap of its fingers, an explosion of blue mist occurred instantaneously at Dreadeye Sailor's location leaving no trace of the monster behind.

Yuushi- 4000 LP

Masaki- 3600 LP

Hikaru saw Yuushi launch a good offense at the start of the duel and cheered, "He's wide open for some damage!"

Hearing Hikaru and agreeing, the Spellcaster duelist commanded his other monster, "Blast Magician attacks you directly!"

After raising up its scythe for a moment, the weapon glowed red as Blast Magician leaped forward preparing to swing its weapon onto Masaki who activated his facedown card in response.

"I activate the card I set last turn, Ghost Guard!"

As the card was shown, a red line slashed through Masaki through the attack seemed to have just phased through but Masaki still was somewhat startled. Regardless, he started to draw cards from the top of his deck and revealed them to Yuushi who was now wondering what was happening.

A Spell Card called Book of Life was the first drawn card but Masaki drew the next card which was a monster known as Dreadeye Deckhand as he sent the card to the graveyard. Book of Life on the other hand went back to his deck as the deck started to shuffle.

Yuushi- 4000 LP

Masaki- 2900 LP

"Ghost Guard effect lets me take cards from the top of my deck until I get to a 'Dreadeye' monster. When this happens, I reduce battle damage by the ATK of the 'Dreadeye' monster. The other cards I draw get shuffled back in the deck. Since your magician had 1400 ATK and Dreadeye Deckhand had 700 ATK, I still take 700 points of battle damage," Masaki clarified for his opponent.

Yuushi wasn't exactly expecting things to go that smoothly as he put the last card in his hand facedown onto the field in the Spell/Trap Zone.

"I end my turn!", he plainly stated.

"Ready?", the brown-haired duelist asked.

Masaki drew and then picked out a card in his hand and placed it on his Duel Disk, "I summon Dreadeye Lookout!"

This time another pirate appeared. Even though it didn't have a left eye or an eyepatch to cover over it, this monster had a red vest and matching red bandana. It was wielding a smaller, thinner sword but had a telescope attached to its belt. Unlike the sailor though, this humanoid was more see-through (ATK: 1500, Level 4).

"I activate his effect. When Dreadeye Lookout is summoned to my field, I can search through my deck and I'll send Dreadeye Buccaneer straight to my graveyard."

Yuushi's opponent pulled out his deck and fanned it open. He looked through as his eyes shifted a few times before he revealed Dreadeye Buccaneer to Yuushi and placed it in his graveyard.

Observing the duel were the girls as they looked on.

Natsumi seemed puzzled and asked, "Hey, why doesn't he just use that monster instead of tossing it away like that? It seems like a good monster."

"I think he's going to use it soon," countered Ayumi.

Ryoko nodded in agreement, "It's no secret where Zombie-type monsters are the most dangerous."

As the auto-shuffle function on Masaki's Duel Disk stopped, he looked up and gave a confident smirk to Yuushi.

"_If it's anything like the Card Phantom...no, the Card Shop Manager's Zombie deck, the most important thing I need to keep track of is his graveyard,"_ Yuushi analyzed.

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Ghost Guard

Trap Card

When damage calculation is about to take place, you can activate this card. Pick up cards from the top of your deck until you pick up a "Dreadeye" monster. The battle damage you receive is reduced by the ATK of that "Dreadeye" monster. The "Dreadeye" monster is sent to the graveyard and the cards you picked up are shuffled back into the deck.

Dreadeye Lookout

Level 4

Dark Attribute

Zombie/Effect

ATK: 1500, DEF: 1000

When this card is summoned, you can send 1 "Dreadeye" monster from your deck to the graveyard.

**Notes: Starting now, the things that are underlined in this section are the names of various Original Cards. This is done just to make things easier to read. Furthermore, the "Original Cards" section will only contain cards that have had their stats and effects revealed by either the characters or the story. This is just for the purposes of storytelling and suspense.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11 Preview<strong>

Ayumi: Congratulations Yuushi. Although, both of you had a great duel!

Ryoko: Yeah, but I still I wish I won that.

Hikaru: You'd better win Yuushi so that we can have a grand duel at the end of all this.

Ryoko: Not if Masaki has anything to say to that.

Yuushi: Tch, these pirates sure are persistent. Chapter 11: From Beyond the Grave.


	12. Chapter 11: From Beyond the Grave

The semi-final matches of the Delta Duel Monsters tournament was underway as the four finalists squared off against each other. Ryoko was looking over at Hikaru's duel and saw a seal of fire go off before an explosion took place. The smoke covered the duel as she wondered what had happened.

On the other hand, Ayumi saw Yuushi and Masaki duel in the Magical Citadel of Endymion. Masaki continued his turn as he slammed another card on his Duel Disk.

Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Masaki- 2900 LP<p>

"I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Everliving Underworld Cannon," Masaki stated.

Following his words, the citadel started to shake as something emerged out of the ground in the distance. A shadow started to cover a portion in front of Yuushi as he looked up and saw some sort of structure covered with skulls and bones surrounded by a hazy, white mist. The ground stopped shaking but seeing the structure more carefully, there was a tip on the structure that had a higher concentration of the mist. However, the mist was drawn in by Yuushi's Blast Magician as well as the central tower of the Citadel of Endymion (Blast SC: 1+1= 2) (Citadel SC: 1+1= 2).

"Since you activated a Spell Card, both my Blast Magician and my citadel each gain a Spell Counter a piece," Yuushi said with confidence.

Masaki didn't seem to worried or affected as he then revealed his set card, "I activate Call of the Haunted. This Continuous Trap lets me special summon a monster in my graveyard. So revive, Dreadeye Sailor!"

A purple mist seeped through the ground before it started to take the form of a familiar monster. The sailor appeared once more with its blue decaying skin and white bandana drawing out its cutlass (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

Yuushi heard a strange noise echoing throughout the battlefield. It wasn't very loud but he noticed a few images of ghosts near the Underworld Cannon as it took aim on him.

Nodding to himself, Masaki explained, "Once each turn whenever a Zombie-Type monster is special summoned to my side of the field, you take 800 points of damage! Well worth a few Spell Counters you gained."

Though the mist and surrounding ghosts seemed surreal and distant in the sky, the incoming blast was definitely real and coming to Yuushi as a silver stream fired down. The initial blast echoed throughout as the silver light engulfed Yuushi blasting him back.

Yuushi- 3200 LP  
>Masaki- 2900 LP<p>

As the Spellcaster duelist recovered, he shook his head, _"At least I know what that cannon does now."_

"Here's where the Dreadeye Pirates rise up! I activate Dreadeye Buccaneer's effect from the graveyard. I can special summon it from the graveyard once per turn by sending a faceup Level 4 or lower 'Dreadeye' monster I control to the graveyard. When it resurrects from the graveyard, this card gains 200 ATK and DEF as well as one Level," Yuushi's opponent shouted.

Dreadeye Lookout disappeared in a bright light as the image of a different monster took its place. This monster actually didn't have as strong a blue glow as the other monster and it also only had one real leg. The most distinguishing feature though was the red cape it wore as a mantle though it didn't seem to have a weapon (Buccaneer ATK: 2100+200= 2300 ATK, Level 5+1= 6).

Pointing his finger at Yuushi's monster, Masaki commanded his monsters, "Dreadeye Sailor, attack Blast Magician! His effect now activates..."

The ghostly sailor ran up to Blast Magician with its cutlass in hand which started to glow dark blue suddenly as he raised it up into the air. Masaki drew two cards from his deck and sent them to the graveyard. Upon closer inspection the cards were Overpowering Eye and Dreadeye Swashbuckler (Sailor ATK: 1600+200+200= 2000 ATK).

"...I can send up to two cards to the graveyard to have Dreadeye Sailor gain 200 ATK for each card sent this way to the graveyard until the end of my turn."

A single swing later, Blast Magician was slashed and sent to the graveyard himself as the sailor ran back. The Spellcaster feel to the ground and disappeared in a red light as the central tower absorbed the magical energy of the light. Additionally, a statue near Yuushi started to react as feel as it momentarily had a purple aura (Barrier SC: 1) (Citadel SC: 2+2= 4)

Yuushi- 2600 LP  
>Masaki- 2900 LP<p>

Masaki stopped his attack for a moment as he asked, "What's going on?"

Yuushi replied, " When ever a Spellcaster monster is destroyed, my Arcane Barrier gains a Spell Counter. Additionally, my Field Spell's other effect can activate when any card with Spell Counters is destroyed. Rather than wasting them and having them disappear, this card efficiently gains the Spell Counters that it had before that card was destroyed."

"Not bad but it won't save your other monster. Buccaneer, attack The Tricky!", the brown-haired duelist continued.

The more powerful pirate charged in with a slight chuckle as The Tricky raised up a magic barrier. Dreadeye Buccaneer jumped up as it clenched its fist while a purple aura surrounded its hand before turning into a purple edge of magical energy. With a punch, the blade thrust forward shattering the barrier and impaling The Tricky as it digitized off the field.

Yuushi- 2300 LP  
>Masaki- 2900 LP<p>

As the Spellcaster monster disappeared, the tower from before shot out a slight wave of purple energy as it gained more power (Barrier SC: 1+1= 2).

"That Arcane Barrier again. That's alright. I'll just set this down and finish off my turn. Of course, my Dreadeye Sailor loses the ATK it gained this turn," Masaki acknowledged to Yuushi as a card appeared near him (Sailor ATK: 2000-200-200= 1600 ATK).

"Then I'll draw!," Yuushi declared a bit excitedly.

He added a card to his hand making it now the only card in his hand.

"_Alright, something like this is what I needed right now"_

"I activate my facedown Continuous Trap, Pitch-Black Power Stone. Right now it gains three Spell Counters."

As the trap was revealed, a black sphere shot out in front of it. Inside the sphere was a golden triangle object with a small hole through it and slight patterns near the three corners. The object inside react as the black sphere emitted a strange power (Power Stone SC: 3)

Yuushi nodded to himself, "I use my Pitch-Black Power Stone's effect to transfer one of it's Spell Counters to Arcane Barrier since its a card that can have Spell Counters placed on it."

The black sphere glowed slightly white as the Spellcaster statue reacted and started to glow slightly white as well (Power Stone SC: 3-1= 2) (Barrier SC: 2+1= 3)

"I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior!", Yuushi exclaimed while putting the card down.

The familiar heavily red-armored Spellcaster appeared as its red cape fluttered in the wind. It drew out its own sword and raised up its shield against the pirates (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

"When this monster is normal summoned, it gains a Spell Counter. For every Spell Counter on this card, it gains 300 ATK (Breaker ATK: 1600+300= 1900 ATK, SC: 1). However, I'll remove the Spell Counter right now which allows this monster to destroy any Spell or Trap Card on the field."

Masaki took a quick glance at his facedown and groaned lightly preparing to activate his facedown card but Yuushi wasn't paying attention to his side of the field.

"I'll destroy my own Pitch-Black Power Stone!"

Turning around, Breaker's sword radiated a red light as it sliced the air releasing a red wave of energy which cut right through the sphere slicing it in half releasing a blast of magical power (Breaker ATK: 1900-300= 1600 ATK, SC: 0).

The girls were watching from the audience as Natsumi groaned a bit and swung her arms in frustration, "Why? Why did he do that? You're suppose to use that sort of thing on other people's stuff right?"

The other two girls seemed a bit confused too but didn't answer as the release of magical power was absorbed by the central tower in the citadel. The power was consumed at the top of the tower which rapidly formed a circle of completed glyphs all over the tower itself (Citadel SC: 4+2= 6)

"So that's why you destroyed your own card," said Masaki as he looked on at the tower.

"Yeah. Since my Field Spell can take the Spell Counters of any card that was destroyed, I figured that was a good way to speed things up. My Pitch-Black Power Stone had two Spell Counters so when Breaker destroyed it, those two were added up to make six on the citadel. Just one thing I need to finish up. Breaker, thanks for the help but I'll need you to do one last thing."

The statue by the shining citadel started to emit a purple wave as Breaker walked up to it. One of the purple shockwaves hit Breaker as he disappeared into a purple light. The statue's energy grew stronger and stronger until a bright purple flash shot out blinding the audience as well as Masaki himself.

Yuushi silently closed his eyes and when the flash ended he opened them again. His field was completely empty as the crowd murmured to themselves as Yuushi placed his hands on his Duel Disk, "I sent both Arcane Barrier and Breaker the Magical Warrior to the graveyard and since there were three Spell Counters on Arcane Barrier, I can draw three cards."

"_Breaker...thanks a lot."_

With three new cards in hand, Yuushi pointed to the sky above the citadel. The tower itself started to glow as it shot out a beam of light that crashed down in front of Yuushi. The light caused his graveyard to shoot out a similar light as an explosion triggered revealing a tall figure in the midst of the blast (Citadel SC: 6-6= 0).

"The ruler of spells, show yourself in this battle! I summon thee, Endymion the Master Magician!"

The audience was in collective awe and even Masaki looked on decently impressed.

The smoke cleared in a hurry as standing in it was a dark purple armored magician wielding a dark purple and golden staff. Endymion was carrying a strange silver ring on its back covered by a dark purple cape (ATK: 2700, Level 7)

Yuushi replied quickly, "You're not the only one who can bring monsters back from your graveyard. Endymion was brought back by removing six Spell Counters on my Field Spell. Not only that but when he's brought back I can add a Spell Card to my hand from my graveyard."

A card in his graveyard popped out and Yuushi showed it to his opponent. It was the only Spell Card in his graveyard, Arcane Barrier.

Looking at his hand, Yuushi made a quick conclusion, _"I don't think I can build up Arcane Barrier again to make it worth my time so I'll use it right now."_

"I activate Endymion's effect. By sending Arcane Barrier to the graveyard, I'll destroy your Dreadeye Buccaneer. Endymion, use Spell Crasher!"

Masaki gasped to himself as the Master Magician thrust out its left arm releasing an invisible blast of magical power causing Dreadeye Buccaneer to explode.

"Now I'll attack Dreadeye Sailor with the might of Endymion. Luminous Flare!"

At the end of its staff, Endymion charged up a powerful sphere of magical energy and shot it out at the sailor. Though the monster stood its ground the blast vaporized the pirate resulting in a large explosion leaving behind a blaze of fire.

Yuushi- 2300 LP  
>Masaki- 1800 LP<p>

A single card appeared behind Endymion as Yuushi relaxed himself a little bit. "After this card is set, that's it for this turn."

Masaki drew his card and nodded to himself. He looked at the tower in the center of the field and then his own cannon in the sky. The tower seemed just like any other tower since the glyphs had disappeared.

"I activate my Trap Card, Last Departure. This lets me destroy a Spell or Trap Card and I choose Magical Citadel of Endymion! Right after though, I have to send a 'Dreadeye' Monster from my hand to the graveyard."

A thick fog enveloped the area as it covered the whole battlefield. Yuushi saw his opponent disappear, then Masaki's field and then his own field and finally his vision was obstructed so badly that he could only see his body and Duel Disk. The grey fog got heavier and heavier as Yuushi waited for a moment. By this time, his Field Spell had disappeared. The next thing he saw was the audience, Endymion, the other duel and finally his opponent...with a monster on his field. This monster seemed more like a skeleton than a person but it had a white bandana with a red stripe as it pulled out a telescope (ATK: 1200, Level 3).

The girls were looking on from the crowd as Ryoko pondered out loud, "Couldn't see through that fog but I thought he didn't have any monsters to start with?"

"You see, Yuushi. I discarded Dreadeye Navigator when my hand so his effect triggered allowing me to special summon him straight from the graveyard and I hope you know what that means," said Masaki with a grin.

Yuushi didn't realize what he meant until he heard a strange echo as he looked up and remembered that Everliving Underworld Cannon was still in the sky.

"_Another special summoned Zombie...this won't be good at all. Guess I have no choice but to lose those 800 Life Points,"_ Yuushi thought to himself as a silver blast fired from the tip of the cannon engulfing Yuushi in its blast. The boy wasn't blown back but got dizzy for a moment and fell to one knee before shaking his head slightly and recovering.

Yuushi- 1500 LP  
>Masaki- 1800 LP<p>

Reaching for his hand, Masaki started to summon a monster, "Dreadeye Watchstander, appear before me!"

On his command, another pirate monster emerged from a card. As the card disappeared, a thin-looking ghost appeared. This one floated around a bit as it emitted a light-blue glow before pulling out a somewhat thin book from its back (ATK: 1400, Level 3).

"Next I use Watchstander's effect. By removing from play two 'Dreadeye' monsters in my graveyard when it's summoned, I can draw a card from my deck."

Two cards popped out from the graveyard as Yuushi saw the spirits of Dreadeye Deckhand and Dreadeye Swashbuckler digitize and disappear as Masaki drew the top card of his deck and stopped for a quick moment.

"Now it's time to set sail!"

The audience looked on as they knew what would happen seeing Masaki with two Level 3 monsters on his field.

Sure enough, Masaki declared to everyone, "I overlay the Level 3 Navigator and Watchstander!"

As the red interdimensional portal formed, flashes of light went off reflected in his D-Gazer which shined for an instance. Masaki's two monsters turned into two black-purple rays and were drawn into the portal.

"I create an overlay network with my two monsters! XYZ Summon! Appear now, Dreadeye First Mate!"

The red portal exploded into a black mist as a figure leaped out of it. This pirate was ghostly and had a shining black corsair and a coat as it brandished out two swords swinging them around in dual-wielding fashion. The blue light his body gave off was a clear indication of its whereabouts as the mist disappeared (ATK: 1800, Rank 3, OU: 2).

"Don't think he's a First Mate just because he's one of the senior Dreadeye monsters. His effect should show you why!"

The First Mate drew out both swords as a purple-black Overlay Unit was absorbed by one of the swords as it started to glow eerily blue. The image of a skull and crossbones appeared behind the XYZ monster for a moment before fading away (ATK: 1800+500= 2300 ATK, OU: 1).

"By detaching an Overlay Unit, my monster gains 100 ATK for every Zombie monster in my graveyard until the end of your turn when this effect resolves. Right now, I have five of them in my graveyard counting the Dreadeye Navigator I just detached. Even better, I can do this effect multiple times per turn."

"Wait, so that means your monster can power itself up again!", exclaimed Yuushi.

Masaki pointed at the second unlit sword, "You got that right, so show your strength!"

After hearing that, Yuushi started to concentrate deeply, _"He's been setting this thing up from the start of the duel."_

This time as the Overlay Unit was absorbed, both swords were now glowing as a creepy laugh from beyond the grave echoed throughout the battlefield (ATK: 2300+600= 2900 ATK, OU: 0)

"Go! I attack Endymion with Dreadeye First Mate!"

The pirate monster leaped into the air as Endymion fired off a blast from its staff. With a single swing , the left sword collided and dispersed the blast as the second sword swung and went through the Master Magician's barrier. With a final dual swing, Endymion was slashed deeply as it disappeared off the field. The slash created a shockwave effect as Yuushi braced himself for the incoming cloud of smoke and debris.

Yuushi- 1300 LP  
>Masaki- 1800 LP<p>

"Hang in there, Yuushi!", Ryoko shouted out.

Still, Ayumi quietly mentioned her opinion of the battle, "It's pretty close and Yuushi could probably win this turn if his hand has the proper cards but that Underworld Cannon has been putting a lot of pressure on him this duel."

As the debris cleared, Yuushi heard a voice from across him, "I end my turn then! Let's see what you got."

"I draw!", Yuushi announced as he looked at the familiar setup in his hand. " I summon Magical Exemplar to the field!"

"_This worked once before...and hopefully nothing bad happens"_

After a brief flash, the turquoise-robed priestess appeared as a slight white aura surrounded her (ATK: 1700, Level 4)

With his hand already on his second card, he played it as an Equip Spell Card appeared on the field, "I play Synchro Boost."

The priestess's aura turned into a white-blue one as minor currents of electricity shot out from her. Using that surge of energy, she cast a spell as two white orbs appeared around her. (Exemplar ATK: 1700+500= 2200 ATK, Level 4+1= 5, SC: 2).

Masaki growled to himself as he remembered something about Yuushi's previous duel, _"This setup let him summon his Ace Monster, Arcanite Magician. Yeah, I'm positive I saw this last duel when he faced Ryoko and it won Yuushi the duel."_

"Now I can special summon a Level 2 Spellcaster-type monster in my hand by removing both Spell Counters from my monster. So, here comes Frequency Magician."

A magician with a notable purple cape appeared wearing a mask covering his forehead and eye with strange gauntlets emitting soundwaves on his hands (ATK: 800, Level 2 Tuner).

With a chuckle, the magician looked back at Yuushi who nodded back to him. "I'm tuning my Level 2 Frequency Magician with my Level 5 Magical Exemplar for a Synchro Summon!"

With noises and lights coming out from the two monsters, Frequency Magician and Magical Exemplar turned transparent before disappearing into light. Taking Frequency Magician's place were two rings lining up parallel to one another and taking Magical Exemplar's place were five shining lights that went through the rings.

"A magician matched only in the mythic era! The illuminating force from the cosmic legends! Synchro Summon! Appear, Arcanite Magician!"

After a bright eruption of light, Yuushi smiled briefly as his favorite monster appeared. From a blast of light, the blue-armored magician swung its green staff around a bit. With a deep breath, the monster started to gather magical power as the Ace Monster emitted a faint green glow and looked at the pirate prepared to battle (ATK: 400+1000+100= 2400 ATK, Level 7, SC: 2).

"Not bad, not bad at all," Masaki complimented.

Ayumi silently watched from the audience as she smiled to herself while the other members of the audience started to get fired up seeing Arcanite Magician on the field.

"Thanks. But his effect is just as good. First, when Arcanite Magician is Synchro Summoned, it gains two Spell Counters and 1000 ATK for each one. Then I'll use up a Spell Counter to destroy your Dreadeye First Mate. It may have more attack points but that doesn't matter right now."

Arcanite Magician's staff radiated a green light as it was aimed towards the First Mate. Finally, the glow reached its peak of intensity as Masaki took a step back.

"Time to solve this problem! Pulsar Wave!"

On Yuushi's command, green waves of magical power shot out towards Dreadeye First Mate who tried to defend itself with its two swords but the swords were slashed into pieces as the Dreadeye monster disappeared off the field (ATK: 2400-1000= 1400 ATK, SC: 1).

Taking another minute to look at the field and graveyard as well as both their Life Points, Yuushi started his Battle Phase. "Arcanite Magician attacks you directly!"

A concentrated blue-green sphere of light formed at the tip of the staff and was fired off at Masaki. Upon impact, the sphere exploded as Masaki covered himself with his right arm though the debris and smoke blew him back.

Yuushi- 1300 LP  
>Masaki- 400 LP<p>

Ayumi took a quick breath, "That was so close. Just a bit more."

Natsumi was about to agree when she noticed something on the battlefield, "Hey, what's that?"

As the blast faded, everyone noticed something glowing on the ground. It was a green and yellow magical circled as a white light from the center enveloped both duelists.

"During that attack, I activated my Trap Card, Magician's Circle. Now we both special summon a Spellcaster monster with 2000 or less ATK from our decks in ATK mode. I choose Magical Marionette and what about you Masaki?", asked Yuushi.

Masaki shook his head and replied, "Don't have any Spellcasters in my Dreadeye deck. You got me there."

Searching through his deck, Yuushi summoned out his named monster. A marionette-looking humanoid with a red cape appeared with strings attached to its fingers. It was also controlling a puppet that swung two daggers in its hand dual-wielding them in an expert manner (ATK: 2000, Level 5).

Ryoko grinned, "There you go, Yuushi! You got this!"

Taking a moment to analyze his opponent's graveyard and remembering their effects, Yuushi couldn't recall one that would reduce battle damage or negate any attacks. With a slight grin, Yuushi commanded his monster, "Attack and finish the duel!"

Magical Marionette shot out its puppet towards his opponent as Masaki raised up his hand with his Duel Disk to about face-level.

"Dreadeye monsters don't only have tricks in the graveyard, you know. I send Dreadeye Boatswain from my hand to the graveyard and remove a Dreadeye Sailor from play in the graveyard. The battle damage I would normally take from this attack is now zero!"

The puppet raised up its dagger and swung down on Masaki as the attack seemingly went through him. After the puppet retreated, Yuushi scowled a bit to himself in disappointment.

"_I was so busy with the graveyard, I didn't look at his hand and considered that he could make it through. In any case though..."_

The last thing now on Masaki's field was Everliving Underworld Cannon which was floating above the duelists. Looking up, Yuushi realized that if he got rid of that, the rest of the duel would be much easier.

Still, he took a moment to consider his options as his eyes rolled upwards.

With a deep breath, he calmed himself down and thought quietly, _"If I destroy Everliving Underworld Cannon with Arcanite Magician's effect, he'll only have 400 ATK left and no Spell Counters. That would leave me open to a counterattack. If he summons a monster with 1700 ATK, I'd lose. However, even if I leave the cannon on the field another turn, it'll only drop me to 500 Life Points and Arcanite Magician would have 1400 ATK meaning he'd need at least a 1900 ATK monster to finish me assuming he also special summons a monster next turn."_

Without any cards left in his hand, Masaki took a quick stretch before focusing back on the duel.

Yuushi contemplated the odds and decided to leave the cannon on the field as he declared out loud, "I end my turn then."

"Alright! It's my turn now!", Masaki yelled and drew a card looking at it.

The audience was quiet now as Masaki smiled. "Let me correct you on a statement you made earlier. You didn't solve any problems when you destroyed my First Mate, you just moved it to the graveyard. Your Arcanite Magician is a great card but I saw its power already during your last duel. Not only that, but you've used up your hand and field. Certainly, it's effect is handy but it leaves you wide open to a counter, a counter like this! I summon Dreadeye Navigator."

This monster was familiar to everyone as the zombie skeleton pulled out a telescope and looked around seeing an excited audience as well as a fiery explosion from the other duel over (ATK: 1200, Level 3).

"But his effect only works when you send him to the graveyard," the Spellcaster duelist countered.

While grinning, Masaki drew attention to his graveyard, "Like I just said, you only moved the problem. I activate Buccaneer's effect from the graveyard. I send my Navigator off the field in order to special summon him with a bonus to his strength. Arise from beyond the grave!"

Yuushi gasped as the ground below shook. Emerging from a crack in the ground, a pirate with a red cape appeared and took a step forward on its artificial leg (ATK: 2100+200= 2300 ATK, Level 5+1= 6).

"Don't forget about my cannon's effect!"

Up above, the Underworld Cannon prepared to fire as Masaki finished his explanation, "Since my Buccaneer came back from the graveyard Yuushi, you take a hit to your Life Points!"

A blast was fired off from above as the beam collided with Yuushi creating a large explosion that covered his side of the field.

"Yuushi, are you alright?" Ayumi shouted with concern.

"Hang in there!", Ryoko yelled out.

The smoke cleared as Yuushi was starting to get up as his Life Points started to decrease.

Yuushi- 500 LP  
>Masaki- 400 LP<p>

"Now I'm going to end the duel! Dreadeye Buccaneer attacks Arcanite Magician!"

After the intense shout, Buccaneer started to charge forward and purple particles of energy gathered around its fist. Pulling back his fist, the purple fist transformed into a purple bladed extension as the pirate punched with the magical blade skewering Arcanite Magician who disappeared into orbs of light.

As the light faded, Yuushi hung his head down slightly but chuckled lightly to himself as the final score was displayed.

Yuushi- 0 LP  
>Masaki- 400 LP- WIN<p>

The audience clapped as Masaki closed his eyes. Even Hikaru and Sakura took a break from their duel and watched the final moments. Principal Tsubasa and the other teachers seemed impressed as the principal made an announcement to everyone, "The duel between Yuushi and Masaki ends with Masaki advancing to the finals!"

"Guess Masaki's strength is the real thing," Ryoko said outloud.

Ayumi nodded, "But still, it was a great duel and Yuushi did great out there."

"_I thought that surprise Magician's Circle would have gotten me the win but...I guess I still have a lot to learn, especially about my Arcanite Magician..." _

Taking a final sigh, Yuushi looked around and saw everyone clapping and felt a warm sensation inside. This was different than his other duels as he pulled out Arcanite Magician and looked at it.

"_I went all out and I still lost but I don't feel bad at all. I pulled out everything I could and there's no shame in losing as long as I did my best. I've been so worried about the consequences of playing my cards that I forgot about the more fun aspects of dueling."_

He took a look at the audience and saw Ayumi and Ryoko smile as well as Hikaru who grinned and nodded to him before continuing his own duel.

Hearing some footsteps, Yuushi noticed Masaki already close up to him as he looked at the Dreadeye duelist.

"You're a tough duelist. I'll give you that much," Yuushi's opponent said while extending his hand out.

Yuushi chuckled as he extended his own hand out as the two shook. Without any other words, Masaki walked off the duel stage and turned around looking at the other duel. Likewise, Yuushi did the same as the audience finished their applause and turned their attention to Hikaru and Sakura on the other side.

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Dreadeye Sailor

Level 4

Dark Attribute

Zombie/Effect

ATK: 1600, DEF: 800

When this card declares an attack, you can send up to 2 cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard. This card gains 200 ATK until the End Phase for each card sent to the graveyard this way.

Dreadeye Navigator

Level 3

Dark Attribute

Zombie/Effect

ATK: 1200, DEF: 500

If this card is sent from the hand to your graveyard, you can Special Summon this card from the graveyard. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster.

Dreadeye Watchstander

Level 3

Dark Attribute

Zombie/Effect

ATK: 1400, DEF: 0

When this card is summoned, you can remove from play 2 "Dreadeye" monsters in your graveyard to draw 1 card from your deck.

Dreadeye Boatswain

Level 3

Dark Attribute

Zombie/Effect

ATK: 500, DEF: 400

During either player's Battle Phase, you can remove from play a "Dreadeye" monster in the graveyard to send this card from your hand to the graveyard. The battle damage you receive is reduced to 0.

Dreadeye Buccaneer

Level 5

Dark Attribute

Zombie/Effect

ATK: 2100, DEF: 1400

Once per turn, if this card is in your graveyard, you can send 1 faceup Level 4 or lower "Dreadeye" monster you control to the graveyard to Special Summon this card from the graveyard. When this card is Special Summoned from the graveyard, you can increase the ATK and DEF of this card by 200 and this card's Level by 1.

Dreadeye First Mate

Rank 3

Dark Attribute

Zombie/XYZ/Effect

ATK: 1800, DEF: 300

2 Level 3 Zombie-Type Monsters

You can detach an Overlay Unit from this card and until your opponent's next End Phase, this card gains 100 ATK for each Zombie-type monster in your graveyard.

Last Departure

Trap Card

Select 1 Magic or Trap Card on the field and destroy it. After that, select a "Dreadeye" monster in your hand and send it to the graveyard.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12 Preview<strong>

Ryoko: Don't worry Yuushi, sometimes these things happen. You made it further than me at least.

Hikaru: I got you covered Yuushi. As soon as I win here, I'm going to show Masaki who's boss.

Ryoko: Hikaru, come on, you'd better stay focused.

Ayumi: We're cheering for you! Do your best!

Yuushi: Thanks everyone, I won't forget this tournament for a long, long time. Chapter 12: Etched Memories.

Ayumi: Memories...the pieces of the past.


	13. Chapter 12: Etched Memories

**Note: Sorry it took so long for an update. Been a bit busy lately.**

* * *

><p>As Yuushi and Masaki's duel came to a close, everyone was watching the last semi-final duel between Hikaru and Sakura. Yuushi and Masaki were on the sidelines of the center of the stage while Ayumi, Ryoko and Natsumi were in the audience amongst a large crowd.<p>

Hikaru- 1100 LP  
>Sakura- 900 LP<p>

Yuushi looked on at the duel and noticed that Sakura had an XYZ monster, Blade Armor Ninja (ATK: 2200. Rank 4, OU: 0) on her field along with a set magic/trap card. Hikaru had a similar setup with his own XYZ monster Lavalval Chain (ATK: 1800, Rank 4, OU: 0) and a set card as well behind his monster.

The girl shouted out, "Blade Armor Ninja attacks Lavalval Chain!"

Drawing out its two swords, the purple and black armored ninja disappeared as Hikaru's dragon looked around. However by that time, the audience noticed the ninja was already behind the dragon as a clean cut appeared and slashed through the dragon sending it to the graveyard after a quick screech.

Hikaru- 700 LP  
>Sakura- 900 LP<p>

"I end my turn," Sakura calmly said.

Natsumi stood up and cheered, "Come on! Show that ninja who's boss!"

"Draw!", Hikaru shouted and looked at his graveyard. After hearing Natsumi, Hikaru smiled a bit and looked at his graveyard momentarily. _"Alright, counter time."_

"Time to heat things up! First, I activate an effect in my graveyard. Since I have more than three Laval monsters in my graveyard and your facedown might be a trap or something, I'll remove Laval Lady of the Burning Lake along with Laval Lancelord in my graveyard to destroy that card!"

As Hikaru removed his cards from play, Sakura's facedown card was set on fire but then Sakura quickly responded back, "Hold it! I'll reveal the Continuous Trap, Ninjitsu Art of Decoy. Right now, after you attack Blade Armor Ninja, my monster will just vanish and reappear so don't think about destroying it in a fight."

The flames surrounding the card dispersed as Ayumi said out loud, "Good move on Sakura's part. Laval Lady of the Burning Lake's effect only works on set cards and by chaining the effect, Ninjitsu Art of Decoy is no longer set and thus Laval Lady's effect won't destroy it."

Hikaru chuckled as he saw the move, "So that was your surprise. No problem, I have the answer to that. Next, I play the card I had set on the field, the Quick-Play Spell, Searing Fire Wall. This neat card lets me remove Laval Warrior and Laval Coatl in my graveyard from play so that I can special summon two Laval Tokens in DEF mode."

Shortly after that sentence, flames formed in between the two duelists as the flames swirled and burned before taking the form of two orange-red small creatures whose bodies were made up of fire (DEF: 0, Level 1).

"Alright! I sacrifice both my Laval Tokens in order to summon, the one and only, Laval Judgment Lord!", the boy shouted with excitement.

As the two tokens disappeared off the field, a fireball came crashing down from the sky. Upon landing, there was a large explosion which caught everyone's attention as a figure emerged from the crater. It was a human with armor made of bone which covered his head, body and legs. Not only that but the monster had bone gauntlets as well though its fists were consumed by flames. The monster got up as its flaming cape fluttered in the wind (ATK: 2700, Level 7).

"I got more than one way to deal damage. I use Judgment Lord's effect!"

The monster put its right arm forward and opened up its hand as the flames started to get more intense. Sakura seemed nervous as Hikaru removed Laval Lady of the Burning Lake in his graveyard from play.

Hikaru explained, "This monster can't attack when I use its effect but it'll be well worth it. Right now, I just removed from play a Laval monster in my graveyard so you take 1000 points of damage from Judgment Lord's fury."

Sakura closed her eyes as her head looked down on the ground in disappointment. She heard a roar from Hikaru's monster as the area around her started to turn orange-red as she was engulfed in flames. Soon afterwards, the flames subsided and the Augmented Reality started to fade as the two duelists were brought back to the gym.

Hikaru- 700 LP- WIN  
>Sakura- 0 LP<p>

The principal jumped up from his seat, "The winner is Hikaru Aoki!"

The audience clapped as Hikaru made his way over to the girl who by now had opened her eyes and looked up

"Nice duel. You're really good. Maybe when we see each other again, we can have another duel," complimented Hikaru.

"Thanks but you were better today. Although, who knows what'll happen next time. Good luck against Masaki then," Sakura smiled back.

The two of them shook hands as Sakura left the stage leaving Hikaru alone. The principal started to walk to the stage himself as Masaki made his way up as well. The audience and the duelists at the sides started to talk about the duels. After a brief moment with some fanfare, the lights went off as the gym went completely dark. Spotlight shined on Principal Tsubasa, Hikaru and Masaki as everyone started to quiet down.

"Everyone, may I have your attention! The Delta Duel Monsters Tournament is reaching its conclusion. The tournament finals has been decided with the last two duelists about to battle it out to be crowned this year's winner!"

The principal swung his left arm to Hikaru, "To my left is the fiery duelist! The one who has blazed his way to the top! Hikaru Aoki!"

Though Hikaru was nervous upon hearing his name, the audience started to clap as Hikaru raised his arm in air, "Yes! Yes! Thank you!"

He looked around and saw Natsumi as he nodded to her and she smiled back.

The principal then mentioned to the right of him, "His opponent whose deck is persistent and his monsters will keep coming back until the end! Masaki Otobe!"

The light-brown haired duelist grinned and looked around the audience silently while they applauded him. Though Masaki might not have shown it, he was slightly nervous for the finals as well but he too could not wait.

For a quick moment, Masaki looked over to Hikaru who stared back at him. Both of them didn't say anything to each other but they knew that their opponent would give it their all. With both finalists giving a quick smirk, the lights in the gym turned back on and the spotlight disappeared.

"Although the anticipation is building up, we will have to take an hour break so the finalists can have time to prepare both themselves and their decks. Don't be late or you might miss one exciting duel!"

Principal Tsubasa's announcement was over as Hikaru jumped off the stage towards Yuushi. The two of them started to make their way towards Ayumi, Ryoko and Natsumi who they spotted in the audience during their duels.

"Masaki, congratulations on making it until the finals," Yuushi stated as the two started going up the stairs to the audience seating.

"Thanks but what am I suppose to do for an hour? It's too early to head out and eat with everyone and it's too far to my house to do something there," Hikaru quickly said.

Yuushi tried to think, "How about we get back to the others first? We can figure out things from there."

Hikaru nodded as the two picked up the pace and made it up the stairs. They looked around for the girls and noticed them standing near the top balcony of the seats. The boys quickly met them with them and started to discuss the results of the tournament.

"Nice job against Blade Armor Ninja, Hikaru. With that trap in play, her monster couldn't be destroyed by battle but you just used a burn effect," Ryoko said stating her observations.

"I just did it because I could deal enough damage to win. Besides, if that didn't work I would have just started hammering away with my other Laval monsters," chuckled Hikaru.

"Yeah! You were great out there!", Natsumi added on while standing beside her brother.

Hikaru laughed slightly to himself, "I'll make sure not to lose Natsumi. If I want to be Duel Champion, I have to keep on winning and making it to the top. For you and mom and dad, I'll do my very best. I'll blast that guy straight out of my way."

Yuushi bluntly stated, "Duel Champion is a long way away. You should probably focus on Masaki. He's a tough opponent, I know first-hand."

With a serious look, Hikaru looked at Yuushi, "I wanted us two to be in the finals but I guess Masaki will be a good enough opponent. Got any advice?"

Crossing his arms and leaning on the wall, Yuushi didn't say anything for a bit as he was thinking over his battle. The key points for him were that Masaki filled up his own graveyard himself, Everliving Underworld Cannon that depleted most of his Life Points along with monsters that could both be used from places other than the graveyard as well as having effects which special summoned them from the graveyard.

"Well, the only thing I would recommend is to keep your guard up at all times. I let mine down during my last turn which cost me the duel. He counter attacked me and I had nothing to defend Arcanite Magician with," Yuushi quietly said analyzing back to the duel.

Hikaru blinked for a moment as everyone was waiting for a response from him.

"Huh, what was that? Sorry I wasn't listening, I was thinking of my strategy," the Laval duelist finally said.

The group sighed as Natsumi replied, "He said Arcanite Magician was beat because he let his guard down."

Looking around at everyone, Hikaru nodded back, "Speaking of which, how did you get that card? Can I get one too? Maybe I'll get one for Natsumi? Would you like that?"

The younger girl looked up, "Yeah, of course I would."

"Well if you could find one, maybe I might find one too," Ayumi said half-jokingly.

Yuushi shook his head and although he had explained it earlier to Ryoko, he decided to tell the same story to Hikaru now. First he started with the light from two years ago, up until the incident at the mall and concluded with his father telling him to just play it now and see what he can find about it.

"That must have been awesome. A light then a random card showed up. Must have been like a one in a million chance or something," Hikaru commented as he started to get excited.

Grinning back, Yuushi didn't exactly know the odds but he knew this is what was dealt to him so he had to run with things and see how they turned out.

"That's fine though, if it's a rare card like that I don't need it then. Besides, mom and dad always told us that we have to take what fate deals to us. Right, brother?"

For a moment, there was a sigh of depression but Hikaru smiled again and looked at his sister, "Yeah and my fate is to make it to the top. When I win, I'll be sure to tell mom and dad about it and it'll make for an awesome story."

"_A story huh. Yeah, it'll be a good story with a great ending...that I promise you mom, dad and you as well Natsumi."_

With that, the group headed out the door and started to head outside. They found a table and a few chairs. Normally this would be used for an outdoor study session or a lunch table that students would use but for now it was empty. It was a bit cold out as the sky was a bit cloudy but the sun was still up making for decent weather outside overall. They all sat down in chairs as Ayumi pulled out her D-Pad and looked at the clock.

"Well, we have about 43 minutes until the finals. What does everyone want to do until then?", Ayumi asked curiously.

Ryoko pulled out her deck and started to look over it and pulled out her Mist Valley Thunder Lord, "Anyone know where I can get another Mist Valley Thunder Lord. I don't expect it to be easy to find but I'm sure there's one somewhere out there."

Hikaru quickly pulled out his Laval Stennon, "Don't know but my Laval Stennon would wipe the floor with an army of those things. I remember when I first used it this year on you Yuushi, that was some fun times."

"Well, you lost that if I heard right. Yuushi didn't even use Arcanite Magician on you," countered Ryoko.

Yuushi pulled out Arcanite Magician and added on, "In any case, even using Arcanite Magician may not have guaranteed a win as you all saw today."

Seeing the three aces of their respective decks, Natsumi wondered about a fourth ace, "Ayumi, what's your best card?"

"What?", the girl asked as she did not expect that question. However, Ayumi reached for her front deck holder and pulled out a pile of cards and started to sort through them thinking about which one to pick. "Well, all these cards are good in their own ways. Against different opponents and their strategies, each one has their own value."

Ayumi put away the cards and held out her deck holder as Yuushi, Ayumi, Hikaru and Ryoko each had something that represented them as a duelist out.

Yuushi remembered seeing all these cards in one way or another throughout the year, "Just this year we've had a lot of memories from these cards in front of us. I mean we've experienced a lot as both students and duelists. I mean I'm sure these cards mean something to each of you personally, even before we all met together and became friends. Like my Arcanite Magician, it was something that reminded me of all the mysteries in the world, all the unsolved riddles waiting to be uncovered. That sort of stuff interests me and this card is a mystery in itself."

Ryoko nodded, "Yeah I remember when I first started using the Mist Valley deck I have. That was a while ago after I started to get more serious into the game. I just felt like it was a deck I liked and I've just gone with the flow. When I first started, it was really fun and I got more and more into it and found a lot of things in the world related to Duel Monsters so I kept at it."

Looking at the four people, Natsumi walked over to Hikaru, "Hey. After this tournament, will you duel me brother? Just like we did last week."

Nodding back to Natsumi, Hikaru laughed for a brief moment, "Sounds like fun. How about best two out of three like last time?"

"Sure thing. I'll win for sure this time," Natsumi said.

"Still though Ayumi, you should have participated. Do you need any advice on how to build a deck or something? I'd be more than happy to help you out with that," offered Hikaru who pointed to himself.

Ayumi thought after the offer for a moment but looked back to the boy, "Thanks but I really want to be comfortable one day with a deck of my own. While I bet your advice would be helpful, I'd rather do it on my own. I need to duel more often before I can make any decisions on that like you all have."

After a quick yawn, Ryoko concluded, "Just remember, if you need help any of us will be able to help you out."

"Thanks," Ayumi complimented a bit embarrassingly.

Seeing everyone in a good mood, Yuushi himself couldn't be feel uplifted somewhat. Even if he didn't win this tournament, memories with friends like these was a prize in itself that couldn't just be given away.

"_Friends you could count on. Those with a strong bond together."_

As Yuushi remembered his dad's words, Ryoko interrupted quickly, "So what about your deck Hikaru? Anything in particular that you specifically like about it?"

After an quick instant, Hikaru pulled out his Laval Stennon, "Of course. This card reminds me of things I've worked for up until this point and that I'll keep working towards to be a professional and some day the Duel Champion!"

"Do you have a plan to get be a professional and what will you do after that?," asked Ayumi suddenly.

The light mood of the conversation so far changed as everyone waited for Hikaru's reponse. The Laval duelist took a minute and rotated his head before coming up with a response. "What do you mean by that?"

"If you want to be a Duel Champion, you'll have to take on the world. Not only do you need to be determined but you need to meet all sorts of duelists to see what styles and strategies are out there. You'll need to make a name for yourself in the dueling world. Have you won any tournaments yet so far?", Ayumi said to expand on her points.

"I won a few really small ones but some time when the next big tournament comes out, I'll be ready for that day. I already have seen some of the pro duelists and found a few sources detailing on how to perform their strategies so I can copy them if necessary but of course I have my Lavals primarily to use," the boy said proudly.

Ayumi looked up to the sky for a moment and reflected on Hikaru's statement, _"Even if you don't copy the pro duelists and have your own style, there's still other issues you'll likely run across."_

"That's a good attitude. But tell me why you duel to be a pro, there has to be some reason right? You don't have to answer though if you don't want to", the girl added on.

Hikaru's expression changed for a moment as his eyes showed that he was tense and he responded lightly, "I have something I want to accomplish, not just for me but for others around me."

The table around the group was quiet for a moment as Ayumi got up and opened her D-Pad, "Sounds good to me. But if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go and get something to drink then."

A cold wind passed by as Ayumi started to make her way to a vending machine and pulled out a card. After inserting the card into the machine for payment, the girl selected a drink that was basically a chocolate and strawberry milkshake in a bottle. The drink rolled down into the slot as Ayumi grabbed it and took a quick sip.

Thinking back to the group, the girl was happy for all of them. Certainly, these memories of happiness would be with her too as Yuushi had suggested earlier but other memories of the past still hung on. Taking another sip, the girl looked up again to clouds in the sky and remembered something briefly about her own past.

* * *

><p>About three years ago, Ayumi was dueling in a stadium that was filled with spectators. Her dark brown hair was a bit shorter in the past and she was much smaller in height. Around her arm was still the same modified D-Pad but she was wearing today but on that day, she wore a white blouse and yellow skirt. It was a bit strange for a duelist but as she looked around, everyone didn't mind, not that it mattered at the time. Her opponent was an adult and several years older than her. He was wearing a black vest and white shirt with blue shorts.<p>

On Ayumi's field was an armored female resembling a knight with a staff in her hands. However, this female knight was mostly in some sort of armored suit fit for a humanoid as the monster's staff started to charge up. On the opponent's side of the field was a huge centaur creature with red eyes who started to roar and raise its arms up and cross them in front of its body in an effort to defend itself.

The crowd got louder and louder as Ayumi waited a moment before declaring her final move. She sighed sadly to herself before continuing on as the staff finished charging up, indicated by the sparks and flares on tip of the staff.

"This will be the end!", Ayumi cried out.

On the girl's command, her monster shot out a huge beam of energy causing a massive explosion as light engulfed the centaur before it gave off a final cry of fury and disappeared off the field.

The duel was over as the stadium returned to normal. Spectators cheered and clapped as the stadium gave Ayumi a standing ovation. Others even started to murmur amongst themselves and others looked on in shock seeing a young girl not only hold her own in front of so many, but even win against an opponent of high caliber.

"She's good. Really good..."

"Wow, I didn't think that a kid like that could duel that well."

The end results displayed Ayumi as the winner with her picture but the girl already had her back turned and started to walk away into a corridor. Her opponent looked on in disbelief with his mouth open as he fell to his knees. He was staring at his deck not only in surprise but also in despair and anger losing that match to a kid like Ayumi.

In the corridor, Ayumi noticed her opponent on his knees and could feel the despair from him judging from the near-blank expression on his face. While most duelists would celebrate after a victory like that, Ayumi wasn't happy at all and sighed in sadness with closed eyes. After a moment of thought, she opened her eyes again and started to walk down further into the corridor and ultimately disappearing from the area.

"_I won that but...so what? What do I have after all these wins...after all these duels? More importantly, what am I left with at the end of all this?"_

* * *

><p>In the present, Ayumi was making her way down back to the group with her bottle of chocolate and strawberry milkshake.<p>

"_I still don't have quite the answer for that moment in time..."_

Back at the table, the group was crowding around something as Ayumi started to walk a bit faster and saw what everyone was looking at. As she arrived, the group was huddled around Yuushi or more specifically his D-Pad as the image of his father appeared.

"Ayumi, get over here!", motioned Hikaru with his hand.

The girl nodded and sprinted over seeing the scientist's image.

"So dad, what'd you call for?", Yuushi asked.

His father took a look at everyone and chuckled to himself. "Just nothing but you sure made a lot of friends., In any case, I just wanted to know how you were doing. Your mother told me that you were in a Duel Monsters tournament and I just wanted to personally wish you luck. Sorry I couldn't call earlier but we were pretty busy at the lab."

"Well I made it up to the semi-finals but then I got beat. It was still pretty good though and I almost made it to the end," the boy commented back.

"That's still pretty good Yuushi. How about everyone else?", the man asked.

"Quarters-finals. I had to face Yuushi and it was pretty close but he beat me in the end," said Ryoko.

Hikaru grinned, "I'm in the finals, Mr. Sakudo. Don't worry, I'll be sure to get Yuushi's revenge for him in the end."

Ayumi looked over, "I didn't participate in the tournament. I've been watching everyone go at it from the sideline."

"Yuushi, I have some good news though. There's a second reason I wanted to call. The corporation has slightly changed my team's plans. There's been something in Heartland that our group was called in to investigate. I was just in a meeting to discuss it and we're on our way there as we speak," his dad said while looking over to his side.

After hearing this, there was one thing on Yuushi's mind, "Does that mean you can come home?"

"Sort of, I'll still have to sleep and stay mostly in the lab for work. The place we're working is still a few hours from home on the outskirts of Heartland City but maybe on the weekend, I can stop by for a day or two to see you and you mother."

Despite that, Yuushi was still happy. His father would be at least near the city now and he'd get to see him more often than if he was in some other city even further away. "That's great. When you get back, I can tell you everything that happened today."

Before his father got a chance to add onto that, Natsumi's own white D-Pad started to ring as she opened it up. "Brother, there's only ten minutes left until the finals."

"Oh, you had a timer. That would have been smart. Never was one to worry about details like that," Hikaru laughed.

"Well then, I'll leave you all to it. Just remember to relax and have some fun. Good luck, Hikaru. Yuushi, I'll see you later then," Mr. Sakudo said to everyone.

Yuushi started to fold down his D-Pad, "Bye, dad."

The connection to the conversation was cut as Yuushi folded down his D-Pad. The group got up off the seats by the table and started to make their way back to the gym. Hikaru waved goodbye to everyone as they all wished him luck. Yuushi, Ayumi, Ryoko and Natsumi sat in the audience and waited about twelve minutes before Principal Tsubasa got up on stage. Looking around, the principal noticed both participants on opposite sides of the gym and raised up his microphone.

"Thank you all for waiting! Without further ado, let the finals for this year's Delta Duel Monsters Tournament commence. On this grand stage, we have the finalists Hikaru Aoki and Masaki Otobe!"

The first on the stage was Hikaru who looked around and spotted everyone else in the audience. Not only were his friends there but some of his classmates and even the other finalists who made it to the same stage as him, Raima, Sakura, Yamato and Kawamura were in the audience as well. He looked forward again and noticed his brown-haired opponent staring intensely at him.

Both of them inserted their decks into their D-Pad as the principal let them talk to each other briefly.

"I've been waiting a while for this. Let's make it a good match" Hikaru said motivated to win it all.

Masaki looked at Hikaru in the eyes, "This will be interesting. I didn't expect a first year to be in the finals but nonetheless, I won't take it easy on you."

The two of them started to walk away from each other as their Duel Disks shuffled their respective desks. The two of them pulled out their D-Gazers which momentarily shined.

"Duel Disk set! D-Gazer set!"

The battlefield was getting ready as their Duel Disks expanded in preparation for the duel.

"AR Vision, link established."

Images of their face and the score appeared as the Augmented Reality system finished. Both of them drew their initial five cards and looked at the other.

"Duel!"

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Masaki- 4000 LP<p>

"Hikaru, I know you can do it!" Natsumi cheered on.

Though Hikaru managed to have the first turn, he didn't want it but there was nothing he could do at this point.

"I have the first turn. I draw!", the boy declared loudly while adding a sixth card to his hand. _"I'd really have rather got the first attack but I can still deal damage first. I won't go all-out yet but I can still heat things up."_

Sliding the card on his Duel Disk, the boy shouted, "I summon Laval Magma Cannoneer in ATK mode!"

A human in a large and bulky blue suit and helmet appeared with metal bearings over the suit. There were two large cannons mounted on the monster connected to a power supplier attached to the back of the suit (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"I use Magma Cannoneer's ability. Right now, I'll discard a Fire monster from my hand to the graveyard and then I get to deal 500 points of damage right off the bat!"

Hikaru sent Laval Volcano Handmaiden from his hand to the graveyard as Magma Cannoneer started to charge up as the right cannon starting to emit a red-orange light.

"Fire!"

On Hikaru's command, the monster shot out a beam of orange-red light from its right cannon. The stream collided with Masaki who defended himself with his free arm. After the small explosion, Masaki scowled a bit as his Life Points started to decrease.

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Masaki- 3500 LP<p>

"Now I'll just place this one card and end my turn."

The card materialized on Hikaru's side of the field as everyone looked on.

"Let's start! My turn, draw!", his opponent declared. "First I play a Continuous Spell Card, Call of the Mummy."

A purple and brown coffin emerged out of the ground leaving behind a cloud of dust upon being summoned up. The coffin was definitely old and had some strange markings on it.

Masaki immediately hinted over to the coffin, "This handy card lets me special summon a Zombie-Type monster straight from my hand once per turn as long as I have no monsters on my side of the field. Since I don't right now, I'll use Call of the Mummy to special summon Dreadeye Navigator from my hand."

The lid of the coffin emerged as a moan from inside was heard from a skeleton monster with a telescope being held on its belt. The white bandana on its head was tied in a knot at the back with a dagger to its side (ATK: 1200, Level 3).

"There's more, Hikaru! I also summon Dreadeye Boatswain."

A blue portal appeared slightly above the duelists as another skeleton with a black sailor hat appeared inside a wooden boat. The boat somehow levitated slightly above the ground as the skeleton turned its head to Hikaru and nodded revealing that it had a black eyepatch too before turning back (ATK: 700, Level 3)

"Two level three monsters," Natsumi realized while she was started to get a bit worried.

"I overlay the level three monsters, Dreadeye Navigator and Dreadeye Boatswain!"

The two monsters disappeared and turned into black purple rays which were shot into the sky as a red portal opened in the center of the battlefield drawing in the two rays of light. The portal exploded as another monster took its place and leaped over to Masaki's side of the field.

"I build an overlay network with both these monsters! XYZ Summon! Set sail for the experienced Dreadeye First Mate!"

The monster was like a see-through ghost emitting a faint blue glow with a black corsair on its head. The First Mate followed up by pulling out two swords from its back preparing for battle (ATK: 1800, Rank 3, OU: 2).

Yuushi looked on at a digital screen which had a zoomed-in view of the duel for the audience using his D-Gazer. He felt uneasy seeing the same monster from his previous duel.

At that moment, Masaki revealed a card in his hand to his dark-brown haired opponent who noticed that it was another Dreadeye monster as the Dreadeye duelist explained, "Since I just XYZ summoned a a 'Dreadeye' monster, I'll use the monster effect of my Dreadeye Deckhand. I can send it to the graveyard now and I get to draw a card."

Hikaru was now the one getting worried and muttered to himself, "That means he gets to draw another card now."

After discarding and drawing from his deck Masaki pointed to the Overlay Units surrounding his monster. "Alright, now that I have a monster in the graveyard, I think I'll use First Mate's ability twice. Since there's two Zombie-type monsters in my graveyard for the first activation after detachment, this card gains 200 ATK and then the second activation will give it 300 ATK for a total of 500 ATK until your next end phase."

The XYZ monster drew out both its swords as the two Overlay Units surrounding the monster struck both the swords and disappeared (First Mate OU: 0). Now the swords started to have the same glow as the monster itself as the First Mate prepared for a battle (First Mate ATK 1800+200+300= 2300 ATK).

"Let's start a brawl! I attack Laval Magma Cannoneer with my Dreadeye First Mate!"

Moving in, the pirate monster made a quick dash and was straight in front of Laval Magma Cannoneer who barely noticed. With two quick slashes, Laval Magma Cannoneer was slashed twice and disappeared off the field as Hikaru watched a bit frustrated.

Hikaru- 3400 LP  
>Masaki- 3500 LP<p>

"That's all for now! Turn end! Now, let's see how fired up your really are," Masaki said anticipating the next move Hikaru had.

The Laval duelist looked at his hand then back up, "Don't go and regret what you said. I'm about to take this duel up to another level."

Masaki didn't say anything but let out a chuckle to himself and prepared for his opponent's move while taking a quick look at his own hand himself. "Let's see it then! Show me the strength that a finalist should have!"

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Dreadeye Deckhand

Level 3

Dark Attribute

Zombie/Effect

ATK: 700, DEF: 700

When you XYZ summon a "Dreadeye" monster, you can send this card from your hand to the graveyard to draw 1 card from your deck.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13 Preview<strong>

Ayumi: This duel...both of them are giving it all.

Ryoko: But who's going to win?

Natsumi: I know who'll win, Hikaru will!

Hikaru: Yeah! But still, neither of us are budging an inch...

Yuushi: In any case, the key to the duel will be the aces. The monster that a duelist prides themselves on. Chapter 13: A Battle of the Aces.

Hikaru: Come on and bring it on!


	14. Chapter 13: A Battle of the Aces

Both Hikaru and Masaki were standing in front of a huge crowd which consisted of not only duelists at Delta but also adults, students and others from around Heartland City who were interested in the finals. There were even other duelists at the sidelines watching although Yuushi, Ayumi, Ryoko and Natsumi were sitting in the audience anticipating the finals.

Hikaru- 3400 LP  
>Masaki- 3500 LP<p>

"Draw!", bursted out Hikaru who quickly got another card into his hand.

He now had four cards in his hand and a facedown on his field while Masaki had his own facedown as well as Dreadeye First Mate at 2300 ATK. Taking another look at his hand, Hikaru smiled comfortably and started his turn and looked at his opponent.

"I can normal summon Laval Lancelord this turn even though it's a Level 6 monster. However at the end of my turn, this card will be sent to the graveyard, no questions asked! So here comes Laval Lancelord!"

Hikaru played the card on his Duel Disk as an explosion of fire occurred in front of him. A few members of the audience were startled but sure enough, Laval Lancelord appeared through the smoke. The monster who appeared to be like a brown golem appeared with a lance made of hardened lava in its hand (ATK: 2100, Level 6).

Swinging his hand, Hikaru revealed his facedown card. "I activate my Trap Card, Graceful Revival. This lets me revive a Level 2 or lower monster from my graveyard. Come on back, Laval Volcano Handmaiden!"

A shimmer of light descended down on the battlefield as particles of light converged onto a location in front of Hikaru. The particles of light finally turned into a small girl with red skin and flaming red hair wearing dark green and metal armor (ATK: 100, Level 1 Tuner).

Natsumi knew what her brother would do with monsters like those out, "You got him now!"

Hikaru nodded, "I'm going to tune my Laval Handmaiden with my Laval Lancelord!"

The two monsters nodded to each other as the Handmaiden turned transparent and then turned into a single green ring surrounding Laval Lancelord who had leaped into the air and transformed into six bright lights.

"In the molten volcano, a roar which cannot be silenced! Flames which swell in the heart of fire! Synchro Summon! Laval Stennon!"

Emerging from the light was a fairly large creature with black rock-like skin augmented with a bit of technology. There were golden rings around its limbs and stomach with metal reinforced kneecaps, a large metal gauntlet on one hand and a hand cannon on the other. With a furious battle cry, the audience quickly took notice of this monster (ATK: 2700, Level 7).

Ryoko looked down, "That seems to be a good sign for how things are going to play out."

"Yeah, Hikaru must be feeling pretty confident," Yuushi added on.

"If things keep going like this, he has a pretty good chance of winning," mentioned Ayumi who looked on with deep interest at the duel.

"There are a few last things I have to do though. Unlike last time when Laval Volcano Handmaiden was sent to the graveyard, this time I have another 'Laval' already there. This means I can use Handmaiden's effect to send Laval Phlogis to the graveyard. Secondly, since I Synchro Summoned Laval Stennon, I also send a card from my hand to the graveyard..."

Hikaru picked a card from his hand after making his decision, "...I think Laval Miller will go to the graveyard."

After putting the Laval Miller card into the graveyard, Hikaru got his deck out from his Duel Disk and looked for Laval Phlogis and also sent that card to the graveyard. Next, he put his deck back into his Duel Disk which started the auto-shuffle function. A fiery aura surrounded Laval Stennon as its ATK went up (Laval Stennon ATK: 2700+300= 3000 ATK).

Masaki didn't say anything but he started to think up ways to counter the current situation. Specifically, a monster with 3000 ATK that basically could not be targeted by any card right now as Hikaru had five Lavals in the grave.

"One last thing to add on, the Equip Spell, Mist Body!"

The Equip Spell appeared on the field as Laval Stennon started to turn slightly transparent though the monster still raised up its arm cannon and started to charge up an attack. The attack was concentrated around a white mist but the orange-red light indicated the attack was ready.

"Mist Body just does thing, one really awesome thing. It prevents the equipped monster from being destroyed in battle. Give Dreadeye First Mate a taste of your power! Attack with Molten Cannon!", the Laval duelist shouted out.

A beam of lava shot out of the cannon consuming Dreadeye First Mate scorching it as the monster let out a final shout before disappearing in the flames. The blast continued on covering Masaki in flames as he scowled away but the virtual lava soon disappeared.

Hikaru- 3400 LP  
>Masaki- 2800 LP<p>

"_Not only did Hikaru take out my First Mate so quickly with powerful offense, he also set up a powerful defense as well,"_ the light-brown haired duelist contemplated to himself a bit surprised.

"Let's see you get past that Masaki! I end my turn!", declared Hikaru.

"Laval Stennon is definitely one of the stronger Lavals out there. It's definitely a great card," Masaki complimented as he drew a card and looked at it smiling, "If that's your ace, the Dreadeye Pirates will be glad to take it on and plunder your Life Points!"

Hikaru started to get a bit uneasy seeing his opponent still not worried and wondered what he would do next.

Masaki pointed to the coffin still on the field then put his newly drawn card onto his Duel Disk, "Since you just destroyed my last monster, I have an empty field so I'll use Call of the Mummy's effect which allows me to special summon Dreadeye Spirit straight to the field."

The lid of the rotting purple-brown coffin came off as another Zombie-type monster would soon appear. There was a turquoise glow coming out of the coffin as a flaming turquoise skull stuck its head out. Instinctively, Hikaru took a small step back out of nervousness but then the monster emerged out of the coffin revealing its full body. The monster itself did not glow but the skull did. It was another humanoid with slightly rusted turquoise-purple body armor as the monster cackled out loud. As its bony jaw shook, two strange axes appeared in its hand, each emitting a turquoise-purple glow (ATK: 2400, Level 6).

"Secondly, I'll summon my Dreadeye Lookout!"

A red vested pirate emerged from the newly materialized card. The pirate stood up revealing it's missing left eye and to its side were two items, a telescope and a sword (ATK: 1500, Level 4)

The zombie pirate chuckled as Hikaru took a slight step back again, _"Those are some creepy monsters. At least it's not real though."_

Hikaru took a quick sigh of relief as Masaki looked through his deck and showed a card to Hikaru, "I wouldn't be so calm if I were you. Dreadeye Lookout's monster effect lets me send Dreadeye Buccaneer straight to my graveyard from my deck."

Yuushi noticed a familiar pattern here, "Wait, he did that to me. There's no mistake. That Dreadeye Buccanner has a dangerous effect. As long as it's in the graveyard, its threat is almost always there."

Masaki continued on as Dreadeye Lookout disappeared in a light as a card materialized below it. As the light faded and the new card appeared, a glowing pirate appeared to take its place. The pirate blew away its cape and revealed its front body covered in bones and an artificial leg with a swing of its hand (ATK: 2100+200= 2300 ATK, Level 5+1= 6).

"From the graveyard, Dreadeye Buccanner appears as reinforcements for the pirates! Once a turn, this monster can be special summoned from the graveyard by sending a Level 4 or lower 'Dreadeye' monster from the field to the grave. In addition, this card gains an extra 200 ATK and 1 Level when special summoned from the graveyard," the Dreadeye duelist explained.

The audience murmured to themselves as most of the others looked on seeing two Level 6 monsters on Masaki's side of the field.

"Though both of my monsters are pretty powerful, they won't stand up to your ace monster. Well, at least not alone anyways," Masaki said as he raised his hands up and announced his next move, "I overlay Level 6 Dreadeye Spirit and Level 6 Dreadeye Buccaneer."

As the red portal opened up in the center of the battlefield, both Dreadeye monsters turned into black-purple rays of light that shot up into the sky. The portal drew in both lights as the portal started to shine before ultimately exploding outward into particles of bright light revealing a figure inside.

"I create an overlay network with the two monsters! Unholy dweller lurking in the darkest oceans. Fearsome ruler of the Seven Seas who conquered all in his path! XYZ Summon! Arise, Captain Dreadeye!"

Surprisingly, this Dreadeye monster seemed more human-like than the other Dreadeye monsters though the monster still emitted a light blue glow and was slightly transparent. The captain was wearing a black tri-cornered hat with a red and gold doublet carrying around a silver handled large cutlass in one hand and a pistol in the other hand. Unsheathing the cutlass, the red-eyed captain prepared himself for battle (ATK: 2600, Rank 6, OU: 2).

Before any other cards were played, Captain Dreadeye shouted extremely courageously emitting some sort of shockwave that spread throughout the battlefield. The shockwaves did not affect seem to have an effect at first but Laval Stennon took a large step back and shook a bit before its fiery aura faded away (Stennon ATK: 3000-300= 2700 ATK).

"What...what happened?," Hikaru yelled seeing his monster's ATK drop like that.

"Captain Dreadeye is one of the most feared creatures in all of Duel Monsters. Even if you haven't seen him in action, his stories and legendary tales inspire both his allies and cause fear into his enemies. When Captain Dreadeye is successfully XYZ summoned, all face-up monsters return to their original ATK and DEF values. Now his second effect activates! Cannonball Rain!"

The captain aimed his pistol upwards as one of the black-purple Overlay Units were absorbed by the pistol (OU: 1). The gun glowed for a moment before shooting a instantaneous flare of light into the air followed by a deep laugh from the captain. This was the signal for a large-scale attack as cannonballs started to quickly rain down onto Hikaru's side of the battlefield. Each cannonball caused an explosion that shook the ground causing minor quakes and leaving small craters on impact. A few of the blasts hit both Hikaru as well as Laval Stennon causing Hikaru to fly back landing on his back and Laval Stennon to stagger for a moment as a cloud of black smoke temporarily covered the duel (Stennon ATK: 2700-600= 2100 ATK).

Hikaru- 2800 LP  
>Masaki- 2800 LP<p>

Hikaru got up and coughed a few times, "Oh no, now my monster's ATK is lower than his."

Masaki grinned, "When Captain Dreadeye uses an Overlay Unit once per turn, not only do you take 600 points of damage but all face-up monsters on your side of the field lose 600 ATK each until the end phase."

At first Hikaru didn't say anything but groaned to himself speechlessly as he could not do anything about the effect.

"Wait, I think I've heard this somewhere. That laugh and that smoke," Ryoko muttered to the group.

Yuushi thought for a moment as he felt Ryoko had a point but then remembered something and responded, "It was during our duel in the quarter-finals. Yeah, when Masaki was dueling Kawamura, that was the last thing that happened before he won. We even took a quick break to see what happened."

Ayumi nodded and acknowledged that and started to worry about the duel, "Now Laval Stennon has lower ATK than Captain Dreadeye. Though Mist Body will prevent Hikaru's ace from being sent to the graveyard, his Life Points are still in danger."

Natsumi was caught off guard at the effect taking place and asked, "Why didn't my brother just use Laval Stennon's monster effect, I mean he could have stopped that pirate and destroyed him."

"Laval Stennon's effect works when it's targeted by a card effect and Hikaru can stop it by banishing a 'Laval' monster in his graveyard if he wants. However, Captain Dreadeye's effect works on all face-up monsters meaning that Masaki didn't need to declare any targets at all," clarified Ayumi.

Back to the two duelists in the center, Masaki showed Hikaru his own Equip Spell, "Not only that but I equip Captain Dreadeye with Dreadeye Pistol."

The Captain's original pistol disappeared but in its place was a slightly longer brown and gold pistol. The Dreadeye monster checked it a few times before comfortably wielding the gun (ATK: 2600+800= 3400 ATK)

"This Equip Spell has two effects. Right now though, the first effect won't be too useful but the second effect allows Captain Dreadeye to gain 800 ATK. A good bonus to engage your monster in a fight."

Captain Dreadeye raised up its gun and took aim as the Dreadeye duelist smirked, "Prepare to be boarded! Captain Dreadlock attacks Laval Stennon! Last Stand Shot!"

The pistol began to glow dark purple as a gunfire shot echoed through the battlefield. Despite the small size of the magic-enhanced bullet, it left behind a trail of black smoke. Upon colliding with Laval Stennon, the monster's transparent body minimized the damage as the large golem was forced backwards on its feet. Hikaru felt the shot as an impact caused him to slide back but he was still on his feet panting.

Hikaru- 1500 LP  
>Masaki- 2800 LP<p>

"Your ace is good but right now, I don't think it's quite on the level of mine! I set this card on the field and end my turn! Since I just ended my turn, your Laval Stennon returns back to its original ATK"

After that statement, a card materialized onto Masaki's field as Hikaru looked on at his monster (Stennon ATK: 2100+600= 2700 ATK).

"Neither monster is budging. That Dreadeye card is good but Laval Stennon's hanging in there," an audience member observed.

"That Laval duelist better do something. At this point in the game, he'd better take out Captain Dreadeye for good somehow," another commented.

Yuushi watched on with the others from the crowd as well, "Does Hikaru have any stronger monsters?"

Natsumi shook her head and replied, "No, but I know Hikaru can turn this around. Do your best!"

"So it's come down to this then. Strong monsters from two different archetypes battling it out in the finals. A battle of the aces will decide the winner," pointed out Ryoko.

"Here I go!," Hikaru said to call for his turn to start as he drew the top card of his deck and placed it in his hand along with his other Spell Card. _"I'll have to end it this turn or this next card might come back to haunt me worse than these pirates are."_

"Captain Dreadeye might be the strongest pirate of the seas but even he'll fall to this next card. Offerings to the Doomed!"

The Spell Card appeared on the field showing a picture of a shrine with a table covered in red silk as well as several burning candles in front of an altar. On the table was also a small gold treasure chest.

Hikaru pointed to Captain Dreadeye, "Looks pretty fancy don't you think. This card lets me destroy your Captain Dreadeye monster right here and now."

Masaki growled to himself as he made a quick gasp, "That means..."

Before Masaki could finish, both his ace monster and Hikaru's Spell Card emitted a red-gold aura before both cards exploded. Even the equipped Dreadlock Pistol was blown into pieces from the explosion leaving no trace behind. The flames of the explosion subsided as no monsters remained on Masaki's side of the field.

"...I have a straight path onto victory!", the Laval duelist said finishing up his opponent's sentence, "However, this spell does have a side-effect. Next turn I don't get a draw phase but I plan to end it this turn anyways and win it all!", Hikaru stated boldly.

The audience started to talk amongst themselves hearing Hikaru's declaration.

"I've also got Laval Warrior to summon to the field!"

After quickly adding onto his earlier statement, a brown golem with two fiery axes made of burning magma appeared from the card on Hikaru's field. The golem had metal armor covering the top of its legs, shoulders and head. The new Laval creature took a step forward and looked up at the battlefield (ATK: 1800, Level 4).

Yuushi, Ayumi, Ryoko and Natsumi saw the second monster summoned to Hikaru's field. Though they didn't say anything, they all could feel the same feeling of excitement and anticipation. Ayumi focused on both duelists as Yuushi took a closer look at the field.

"You're about to take tons of damage. Laval Stennon, attack him directly with Molten Cannon!"

On Hikaru's command, Laval Stennon raised up its arm and as a bright light intensified. The orange-red light got brighter until a blast of lava shot out from the arm cannon. Masaki raised up his arm, closed his eyes and took a step back bracing for impact. The stream of lava consumed him as the area turned orange-red but his opponent panted heavily and opened his eyes again

Hikaru- 1500 LP  
>Masaki- 100 LP<p>

"_Just 100 Life Points left...this Hikaru is good, no he's really good,"_ Masaki thought to himself.

At Hikaru's sides, he pumped his fist in anticipation and declared his last attack, "Laval Warrior finish up what Laval Stennon did and attack now!"

Laval Warrior placed both its axes at its sides as the axes started to be consumed by flames.

"Backing me into the corner is no small feat. This duel has me fired up as you might say...so I'll do what I can to not disappoint a true duelist. I activate my Trap Card, XYZ Reborn!", Masaki said with a hint of recognition in his tone.

"I get to pick an XYZ monster in my graveyard then I get to special summon it straight to my field but with a nice bonus. The XYZ monster I choose gets this trap card attached to it acting as an Overlay Unit. I choose my ace monster, Captain Dreadeye!"

An strange gold and blue ornament appeared from thin air and radiated a bright white light as the image of Captain Dreadeye started to form. With a chuckle, the undead captain appeared once more and grabbed the ornament putting it to the side its own belt (ATK: 2600, Rank 6, OU: 1).

"That card again...I thought I got rid of him," Hikaru said with shock.

"Like I told Yuushi last duel, the Dreadeye Pirates will always rise! I have many ways to get my pirates back on the field to terrorize my opponents!", the Dreadeye duelist proudly announced.

Laval Warrior was in a position to raise up its molten axes and charge but Hikaru ordered his monster not to as the warrior remained on the field.

"He bet it all this turn and it was close, really close...," Yuushi noted seeing that Hikaru did do what he said he would do and that is to inflict a ton of damage this turn, however it wasn't quite enough.

Ryoko looked at Natsumi who by now was standing up as she turned back to the duel and the aces on the field, "Looks like things have gone almost full circle..."

Ayumi similarly was looking at the duel too and thought to herself, _"Captain Dreadeye is a problem but Hikaru has something else to deal with now, something that may be a lot worse than that next turn thanks to his own Spell Card."_

Hikaru sighed to himself in disappointment but reluctantly finished things off, "I guess that's the end of my turn then."

Looking at his low amount of Life Points, Masaki panicked a bit before concentrating on his opponent, _"If I don't end this duel right now, I'll be the one in trouble"_. He looked over to his ace monster and looked around the audience before starting his next turn, "Here goes".

Masaki drew a card and looked at it before looking back to the field and slightly smiled, "First I'll detach my Overlay Unit which lets me use Captain Dreadeye's Cannonball Rain! So here it goes!"

After absorbing the ornament which acted as the Overlay Unit (OU: 0), Captain Dreadeye fired a shot into the air as a barrage of cannonballs from the sky rained down on Hikaru's side again. A few cannonballs collided with Laval Stennon who this time fell to one knee as well as Laval Warrior who was blasted back and Hikaru closed his eyes and braced for impact as he fell on his back from the attack. Natsumi worried about her brother as a thick veil of black smoke covered Hikaru's side of the field. As the smoke disappeared, Hikaru opened his eyes and recovered as Laval Stennon also was back on its own two feet but still injured and Laval Warrior stepped forward but was also injured (Stennon ATK: 2700-600= 2100 ATK) (Warrior ATK: 1800-600= 1200 ATK).

Hikaru- 900 LP  
>Masaki- 100 LP<p>

"Time for the pirates to claim their bounty, the grand prize of this tournament. Captain Dreadeye attacks the weakened Laval Warrior! Last Stand Shot!"

The Laval duelist clenched his fists at his sides and whispered, "I guess this is it then..."

Captain Dreadeye pulled out a pistol from its belt and took aim at Laval Warrior. A gunshot echoed throughout the battlefield as the bullet went through Laval Warrior who then exploded. Though both duelists still had their aces on the field, Laval Stennon and Captain Dreadeye, both monsters disappeared as did the virtual field while the final score was displayed.

Hikaru- 0 LP  
>Masaki- 100 LP- WIN<p>

Principal Tsubasa made his way up to the center of the stage as everyone watched him in anticipation, "The winner of this year's Delta Duel Monsters Tournament is Masaki Otobe!"

Though not quite the words Hikaru wanted to hear, he couldn't help but shake with excitement even though the duel was already over. The audience started to clap, especially all of Hikaru's friends.

"Both of them are great duelists," said Ryoko plainly to the others.

Natsumi happily agreed, "Of course. I wanted my brother to win but I know he did his best out there."

Amidst the clapping, Hikaru made his way over to Masaki who by now was cheering and raised his arm up in victory. Seeing his opponent though, Masaki stopped his celebration and headed towards Hikaru. For a moment, neither duelist did anything but without saying anything, both of them extended their hands and shook.

"Nice fight," Hikaru said congratulating his opponent.

Masaki chuckled, "You did great too, not only did you have a burning passion but in the end, I couldn't get rid of your ace and next turn, Laval Stennon would have defeated my Captain Dreadeye. So in one sense, you won that battle."

Hikaru was happy to hear that but had to accept the results, "But in the end, you won the duel. So congratulations."

With that, Hikaru stepped off to the side behind Masaki as Principal Tsubasa and the manager of the on-site card shop appeared with a briefcase in her hands as the two adults took to the center of the stage along with Masaki.

"All the duelists should be proud of themselves for bringing their skills out and having the courage to compete in front of you all today. So let's give them another round of applause!"

The audience clapped again as the card shop manager opened up the briefcase showing a few cards inside. Masaki looked down and recognized that each of those cards were rare cards including a few really rare ones like Giant Trunade, Bottomless Trap Hole, Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana and Wind-Up Arsenal Zenmaioh among others.

"In addition to the bragging rights associated with this tournament and some credit at the store, the immediate prize you get are two of the rarest cards available at our shop. Take your time if you need to Masaki," the principal mentioned.

There were about 15-20 cards as Masaki flipped through them really fast but in short time made his decision. He chose Bottomless Trap Hole and Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. After showing the two cards to the audience, the card shop manager closed her briefcase and stepped back as well.

"And there it is, the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament has officially concluded!"

In the audience, a few people were contemplating the choices Masaki had made as Hikaru got a close look at the two cards. Hikaru was in shock that one of the cards was Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys as he kept staring at the card. Masaki slowly spun around and showed the other side of the audience the two cards and noticed Hikaru kept staring the monster card he just got. Hikaru didn't take his eyes off the card as he kept staring. The audience erupted out with clapping and general rabble as a few people started to make their way out of the building. The principal and the card shop manager stepped off to the side waiting for everyone to leave as Yuushi, Ayumi, Ryoko and Natsumi started to make their way down to meet up with Hikaru.

Hikaru himself shook his head and realized that it was time to go as he took his eyes off the Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys card but not before Masaki walked up to him.

"I see you're interested in the cards I just picked out," he said trying to figure out why Hikaru couldn't stop staring at them.

Hikaru nodded, "Well, yeah. Specifically the Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. It's a really nice card."

Masaki chuckled to himself and held it up, "You want it then? I picked Bottomless Trap Hole to use but I never heard of the Sacred Phoenix so I took it. I read up its effect and I heard a few people wanted the card so I figured it would make good trading material. But if you want it, I wouldn't mind. Consider it thanks for the duel."

The Laval duelist could not believe what he heard and he was tempted to take it but ultimately started to walk off the stage, "Thanks for the offer but I'll earn that card myself. Besides next time we duel, I don't want to hear any excuses when I win."

"That's fine. Until then," Masaki said to the other blue-black haired finalist before he left as well.

* * *

><p>A while later, the group of five started to walk along the streets of Heartland City. It was night time as everyone starting looking around seeing numerous lights of various colors coming from lampposts, shops, houses and other buildings. The street was not too crowded at this time as the group could see the night sky and moon above the whole city.<p>

Yuushi turned to his friends for a moment and took a look at them each talking to one another. He was not really paying attention to what they were saying but he just watched them and was happy enough. Eventually, the group reached a street which had a red light as the group stopped. The other side had a green light as Hikaru and Natsumi walked down that road.

"You don't want to grab something to eat really fast?," Ryoko asked.

"I promised my parents I'd take Natsumi home as soon as the tournament ended. Besides, my mom's cooking and she makes some good food," Hikaru replied hurriedly as he started to cross the street, "See you guys another time."

Natsumi turned her head to see the other three, "Bye. See you later."

"Bye!"

The two siblings quickly ran across the street waving goodbye Yuushi, Ayumi and Ryoko waved back. The light started to turn yellow as the two were on the other street now as the light turned red meaning that the other street had a green light allowing the others to walk.

"Wonder what sort of things there are tomorrow...," said Ryoko before being interrupted by a yawn, "...I think for today though I'm just going to sit back home and watch some television or something like that. Something nice and relaxing."

Ayumi heard the sound of a monorail blaze past the three, "So where does everyone want to eat then? I know a few places around but I'm good for pretty much anything."

Yuushi tried to think of places around this area of the city, "Well, actually I'm good for anything as well, as long as it's not spicy anyways...or tastes bad."

"Well if you two won't decide, then I guess it's up to me. But I'll have to think too so give me a quick moment," suggested Ryoko.

Another car passed the three as they eventually headed down another street and continued on.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, it was now late at night as Yuushi was in his house with his mom who was watching television at this moment. Yuushi was about to head up to his room to sleep for the night as his mom got up suddenly.<p>

"Before you go to bed, your father called you during your tournament right and told you about some news he had," she inquired.

Yuushi closed his D-Pad's screen as he answered back, "Yeah and well, I'm pretty happy that he'll be closer. I know he still has work to do at the lab but still, just knowing he's closer sort of makes me feel better."

Mrs. Sakudo smiled back, "I know how you feel Yuushi. Really, it's better than him going off into some random city that he doesn't know about. If he's near Heartland, it should make things easier for him."

After a quick yawn, Yuushi started to go up the stairs. "Good night mom!", he shouted from upstairs as he went into his room.

The tournament had Yuushi and likely the others exhausted as he fell facedown on his bed and rolled on his back staring at the ceiling. He wanted to sleep but he knew he couldn't for some time due to all the thoughts in his head as he opened the door and stepped onto the small balcony. He looked out and saw the whole city and couldn't help but feel amazed.

"_I wonder how everyone's doing now. I bet some of them are asleep by now but that tournament was something else. My friends were there, my classmates, even some tough competitors showed. Either way, it was something different, something nice, something I won't forgot for some time."_

As Yuushi turned around to head back to his room, he noticed a yellowish light and quickly saw the source of it. He looked through his deck and noticed the glow came specifically from his Arcanite Magician card.

"What...," the boy muttered to himself.

However, in a few short moments, the yellow light faded and everything returned to normal. Yuushi couldn't get a chance to really figure out what just happened but he knew one thing, that this was definitely not normal. Maybe he would bring it up with his parents some time at a good moment. If he told people his cards started to glow suddenly, he probably wouldn't get a good response from them. Yuushi hesitated a bit but ultimately put his deck and other accessories away for the day and got ready to sleep. The light from Arcanite Magician still bothered him a bit but it didn't feel dangerous or strange so Yuushi felt it would be harmless to just leave it be for now.

"_I wonder what that light was for, it's got me worried but I can't help but wonder what other secrets this card has," _Yuushi thought to himself as he looked outside and stared off into the night sky.

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Captain Dreadeye

Rank 6

Dark Attribute

Zombie/XYZ/Effect

ATK: 2600, DEF: 1700

2 Level 6 Monsters

When this card is XYZ summoned, all face-up monsters return to their original ATK and DEF. Once per turn, you can detach an Overlay Unit from this card to to inflict 600 damage to your opponent and all face-up monsters your opponent controls lose 600 ATK until the end phase.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14 Preview<strong>

Ryoko: At least we'll have a bit more time to relax during the weekend.

Yuushi: Did you hear the news? Duel-related incidents are happening in Heartland.

Hikaru: Who reads the news anyways...but still, what's happening?

Ayumi: They each have the same general story and the same results each time. Something about a curtain falling...it doesn't sound good.

Ryoko: Hopefully, this sort of just blows away.

Ayumi: I hope so but still, it's a hot topic.

Yuushi: I don't like the look of this...Chapter 14: The Looming Curtain.


	15. Chapter 14: The Looming Curtain

After midnight, even the city of Heartland was at a much slower pace than usual with most people asleep or preparing to sleep. Of course, there would be a few exceptions such as those working late or preparing themselves intensely for the next day. However, there were still a few people active in the streets though it wouldn't be considered the norm at the time. A red-haired female reporter looking for a news article for instance, may be such a person still awake as this person continued driving their red car looking for a story. The reporter finished her drink as she continued to drive taking a left turn at the street.

"Come on. There has to be a scoop somewhere, I need to go to bed too you know!," she yelled to nobody in particular.

A few moments later, the reporter took another right turn at the next street as her eyelids started to get heavier and heavier. She took a glance at the digital clock in the car as she shook her head rapidly to stay alert.

After a yawn, she said to herself, "I know there has to be something out there..."

At that moment, the reporter noticed a flash of light coming from a nearby alleyway. At first she was shocked for a moment but then rushed to the scene seeing what caused the flash of light. After stopping her car, she ran out to the alley hoping that the flash wasn't just a random light being blown out or that her eyes were tricking her. After parking her car, she quickly started to run down the alleyway. After a few moments, she ran down the alleyway and noticed a security guard with a grey uniform, helmet headset and goggles laid out on the ground. The female reporter quickly ran over to investigate what had happened. Running over, she noticed Duel Monsters cards were scattered near the security guard who had his Duel Disk ready. Using her D-Gazer, she quickly scanned the results of the duel and noticed that the security guard had lost. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the guard had been heavily injured with bruises and scrapes at the very least.

"Are you alright?", she shouted as she knelled down beside him

The security guard weakly moaned, "There was...a curtain and..."

The reporter could not deduce anything from that brief mumble, "What about a curtain?"

The guard then fell unconscious as the reporter quickly pulled out her cellphone and quickly made a call.

"I need an ambulance now! Someone's been injured badly," she shouted quickly.

After calling for medical aid, she investigated the area by the security guard once more and found another strange detail, a single white completely blank card. The red-haired reporter walked over and picked up the card and examined it closely though there wasn't really much to look at. The other cards nearby were a combination of monster, spell and trap cards which was likely the security guard's deck. The blank white card was the only abnormality among the cards.

"_What happened out here...,"_ she wondered.

* * *

><p>At Yuushi's house the next morning, he was alone as his mom had went out to work. In the living room, he sat down on the couch and had just finished reading a book and held it for a while in his hands thinking about what to do next. It was sunny out but windy as well with a nice cool breeze. Yuushi got up and put the book away before turning on the television. There wasn't anything too exciting on television for Yuushi as he checked a guide to see what would be on.<p>

"Nothing...nothing...nothing," the boy said half-bored while flipping through the channel guide.

Seeing the sun shine into the room, Yuushi turned off the television and took a look outside. The leaves were swaying slightly and there were a few people outside. There was no school on the weekend and outside didn't seem that bad at all.

Yuushi noticed a kid who was running on the sidewalk in front of the house with a D-Gazer and Duel Disk and commented, "Maybe I should go find someone to duel rather than being just stuck inside all day watching who knows what."

The boy walked over to a nearby table and grabbed his deck and green D-Pad for dueling as he grabbed a bottle of water incase he got thirsty. He hit a button on the side of his glasses to activate its function as a D-Gazer.

After double-checking to make sure he had everything, Yuushi thought to himself one last thing, _"Depending on how long I'm out for, I might have to call Mom later."_

As he took a final look around the house, his D-Gazer beeped a few times indicating that someone was trying to contact him. He took his D-Gazer and hit a few buttons seeing an image of Ayumi.

"Hey, Ayumi. Something happen?", the black-haired boy said to start off the call.

Ayumi replied back, "By the shore, there's some sort of monthly duel gathering event going on. From what Ryoko told me, it's sort of like a get together to meet a bunch of duelists in the area. No prizes, no nothing, just pay a bit of money to get some food and drink and to have fun."

"Are you going to go...", Yuushi stopped for a moment and added on, "...and are you going to duel?"

The girl put up a deck of cards in front of her, "Yep. I sorted out a bunch of cards and made a deck I'd like to try out today. We all talked and I called to see if you'd like to come with us."

Yuushi nodded and asked, "Alright, so where are we all going to meet up?"

"The fastest thing to do would be for all four of us to meet up and take the monorail to the shore. Ryoko said the easiest place would be the monorail station by the school since we head to school most days anyways. She also added that we'll meet at that one area where there's four vending machines near the west end of the station," Ayumi answered back.

"Do you mean the station in front of that restaurant with the big sign? Also, do you mean the shore with the beach? I don't recall any dueling events there."

The girl thought about those statements for a second, "It is the station in front of that restaurant by the school but we're going to the shore by the pier, not the beach."

"Alright, I'll be on my way then. I'll just take the monorail near my house to the monorail where you guys are and find you. Bye," the boy said as the conversation ended and Yuushi went outside, locked the door and headed to the designated monorail station.

* * *

><p>Heading down the streets of Heartland City, Yuushi eventually made his way to the nearest monorail station. He climbed up the streets past a crowd of people who were all busy with business to attend to at the station. Taking a brief look around, there was a lineup at the machine that dispenses tickets. After a few minutes, Yuushi was able to grab a ticket as he sat down on a nearby bench waiting for the next monorail to arrive. Looking up at the clock in the station, Yuushi had a few minutes left before the next monorail would arrive.<p>

"_Heartland City is pretty busy so they can't keep people waiting with something like long wait times for the next monorail. At least it doesn't take long to go somewhere but it's usually pretty crowded,"_ the boy thought to himself looking around at the crowd.

Two women sat behind Yuushi on the bench behind him as they started to talk.

"This morning, there were another few incidents regarding that whole blank card case," the woman with the glasses said.

"Is that the same one as the curtain one? When did they start calling it the blank card case?," the shorter one replied.

The glasses girl stuttered for a moment, "Um...um...I think it's when the blank cards were more noticeable that some invisible curtain which may not even exist."

Though there was a conversation behind Yuushi, he didn't really pay attention to it as he looked around the monorail station trying to pass as much time as possible. Eventually, everyone started to gather by the track as the boy turned his head and noticed that the monorail was quickly approaching from the distance. Even the two girls by this time had already started to join the crowd of people as the monorail stopped. Yuushi got up and went inside as the high-speed monorail took off.

As Yuushi approached his destination, he could see many buildings and streets along the way as he eventually spotted Delta Academy in the distance. After another few moments, the high-speed monorail eventually reached the designated station where Yuushi along with several others got off. Looking around the place, the station by Delta was likely more busy than the station by his house as he vaguely recalled the location of the west side of the station.

"_Let's see...,"_ Yuushi quietly muttered to himself focusing on the signs all around him.

He saw a sign showing him where the west side of the station was as Yuushi kept following signs that would direct him to the west side. Yuushi walked as fast as he could while avoiding the horde of people passing by as he finally saw a plant by a corner and another sign as he turned right and followed the sign. Moments later, Yuushi noticed the four vending machines as he made his way over and scanned the area and saw Hikaru's spiky dark blue-black hair along with Ayumi and Ryoko with drinks in their hands. They noticed Yuushi as they nodded and smiled before the four of them met up.

Ayumi was using her D-Pad but she soon folded it back into a more compact state, "I was about to contact you again. We were starting to get worried and thought you might have gotten lost."

Hikaru took a quick look at the vending machine, "I think I'll get a quick drink before we take off."

"I brought my own drinks," Yuushi stated as Hikaru made his way over.

"When's the next monorail coming?", Ryoko asked.

Ayumi opened up her D-Pad again and hit a few buttons as a small screen popped up and she answered, "Looks like in a few minutes. When Hikaru gets back, we'd better head over to the boarding area."

Hikaru made his way back a bit mad but had a green juice drink in his hands and took a sip before grumbling, "Stupid machine ate my money. I had to hit the refund button thing like ten times before it spit my money back out. At least it worked the third time or so."

"That's why I use a card. A digital card uploads the information directly into the machine rather than a scan so I find it more reliable," Ayumi mentioned aside as they started to make their way to the boarding area.

"Well, as long as I have money, shouldn't the machine give me the drink? Not that hard. I have money, it has drink, we trade. Everyone's happy," the Laval duelist said a bit agitated to the dark-brown haired girl.

After passing through another crowd of people, the group eventually boarded the monorail and made their way to the station by the shoreline and pier.

* * *

><p>About 20-30 minutes later, the four students arrived at the station closest to the pier as they got off and made their way downstairs and out of the station. Of course, people were piling into the monorail soon after but for any major metropolis or city, this wouldn't be much of a surprise. They eventually made it onto a road by the sea as they were walking towards the duel location.<p>

Yuushi had his attention split from following his friends and listening to their conversations to watching the sparkling sea and admiring the breeze. After a moment, he thought to himself about this duel gathering and asked, "Sounds like a good way to meet duelists. Do you guys know who is in charge of this event?"

Hearing this, Ryoko took a moment before replying, "It's sort of run by Heartland City or at least someone with an association to Heartland City so that people could find other duelists in an area in an open and hopefully comfortable palce. To duel doesn't cost any money but for refreshments and food it does. A lot of people use it as a meeting ground from what I've heard. Let me check to make sure."

As they continued walking, Ryoko started to look up information as a web page appeared. She displayed the page with a click of a button to the others. Yuushi noticed the webpage initially had a center article about "Curtains for Duelists?". He recalled that he heard something about curtains in the monorail station by his house as Ryoko opened a somewhat colorful page of the pier. The web page had screenshots of previous events with an overview and summary of the event and times that these gatherings would occur at. She took a quick look at contact information as she closed her D-Pad.

"Yep. Pretty sure what I said is accurate," the brown-red haired girl stated.

After seeing that curtain thing on the familiar webpage and hearing about it but not knowing much, Yuushi got curious, "What was that about the curtains in the duel or something? It was on the web page and I heard about it while coming here."

Hikaru seemed equally as puzzled, "No clue. Maybe something happened and well...yeah, I got nothing."

"I heard about it...," Ayumi started to say while opening up her D-Pad to the same page along with opening up other pages in rapid succession, "...it's the same as the blank card incident."

"What blank card incident?", Hikaru asked

Ayumi did something similar to Ryoko and pulled up the screen from her D-Pad as they kept walking along. It seemed like a typical news article with a few pictures including someone injured in the hospital, a blank white card, a picture of a see-through curtain and someone with a really awkward and confused look on their face. Yuushi quickly read through the article faster than any of the others as they were still reading while he had finished.

To sum it up, there was something about duelists not quite being themselves though nothing to be too alarmed about, perhaps a case of short-term amnesia or something along those lines. Additionally, when asked what they recalled before this amnesia-like state, the duelists described a see-through curtain falling around them in a duel then they couldn't remember anything and the next thing they knew, they're in the state they're in right now. Additionally, when the duelists were told that someone found them unconscious and brought them somewhere for help, the victim would be unable to recall this. The one common phenomenon tying together these strings of incidents would be the blank cards that were found near the unconscious duelists by people who would call for help.

"Oh, hmm...that's strange...," observed Yuushi.

Ryoko quickly jumped in, "Let me just finish reading this..."

As the sea breeze blew towards the road, everyone had finished the article and Hikaru was the first to comment on it, "What do you think? Sounds pretty weird."

"Well, the blank cards are what's really bothering me. I mean it's unfortunate that people would be in this amnesia-like state but the blank white cards seem to be the strangest factor. Why are they there? What significance does the blank card play and does it correlate to the rate of finding unconsciousness duelists or even to the rate of this amnesia phenomenon?" Yuushi stated outloud somewhat rhetorically.

Ayumi nodded, "But still, the amnesia must mean that something happened to them."

Yuushi interrupted, "Well, amnesia-like state, not confirmed to be amnesia..."

"Same thing to me," Hikaru added on

"It this recent or did we just not hear about it until now?," Ryoko asked.

Ayumi quickly started to type things on her D-Pad as a few other screens came up. "The articles don't really say much about reported incidents. Just that it is something that's being reported more often and that officials are looking into things."

No one said anything for a while so Ayumi closed her D-Pad as the group could see a large opening in the distance with several people there. Using their D-Gazers, the group was able to see the Augmented Reality System which displayed a wide variety of monsters. A thunderous explosion, a strong whirlwind, an engulfing tidal wave and an erupting pillar of fire were among the dragons and other creatures that the duelists were able to see.

"Guess that's it," Yuushi said as he observed the monsters.

Ryoko nodded, "Either that or some sort of weird malfunction with the AR System."

Hikaru chuckled and sprinted forward, "I'll race you guys to the shoreline then!"

"Wait a second!," yelled Yuushi trying to get Hikaru's attention who by now barely heard anything the boy with the glasses said as Hikaru ran off into the distance.

Ayumi laughed lightly, "This should be pretty interesting. I've never been to something like this. Duel, relax, eat some food and meet some people. Sort of like a dueling party I guess."

* * *

><p>The four arrived at the shoreline where they saw duelists of all ages and types from ones with custom Duel Disks to those with strange hair and even people ranging from vocal and outspoken to shy and timid. There were a few tables with people sitting around and talking about anything whether it be related to the shore, the city itself, school, music, dueling and other topics. There were a few officials who were overlooking the event sitting at another table and a few other officials just walking around making sure everything was running smoothly.<p>

"So what's the plan?," Yuushi asked still trying to see exactly what everything was about.

Hikaru activated his Duel Disk and slotted his deck into the proper holding area and said, "That's easy. I'm going to start a duel. We can meet up later on something.

The Laval duelist ran off as Ayumi quickly looked around and noticed a tall tree with four benches surrounding the tree and yelled, "Then, everyone meet us at this tree with the four benches when we want to meet up!"

Turning his back, Hikaru made a thumbs-up sign with his left hand and turned forward before running off again.

Ryoko took a glance at the sea and looked to the other two before running off, "Since we're by the sea, I'm going to just absorb the nice sea breeze, take it in as a good luck charm then duel some people. Maybe I'll get something to eat afterwards too."

Ayumi opened up her D-Pad again and started to punch in some information as the screen she was looking at kept rapidly changing, "I'm going to take a look at something before I go off. What about you Yuushi?"

Looking around, Yuushi could see duels from all over at different phases of the game, "I think I'll just look around and try to get more information about this event before I do anything. See you in a while then."

The girl looked up and nodded, "Alright sounds good. We can just contact each other using our D- Pads if something happens then."

They both waved goodbye as Yuushi started to make his way around the area. The first thing that caught his eye was the food but he wasn't that hungry at the time and passed over it. Yuushi passed by a tree and noticed Ayumi who was looking at everyone's Duel Disks. Everyone had their own Duel Disks shaped like swords, books, phones, the standard model, etc. Even the D-Gazers ranged from a wide variety of colors and shapes.

After a few minutes of walking, he sat on a bench by the sea and noticed another duel was just about to start in front of him between two people around his age, one person had brown hair and the other had blue hair.

Looking down on his own D-Pad, Yuushi got up from the bench and concluded, "Well, I think dueling might be the best way to find out first-hand what this place is like."

* * *

><p>During the event, Yuushi played a decent amount of games but sometimes took breaks in-between before finding another opponent. The last duel he recalled, he summoned Flux Magician for the win using its effect to deal the final bits of Life Points his opponent had. The girl almost won with the Spell Card, Tremendous Fire in the previous turn but Yuushi used Magic Drain to counter it allowing his next turn be the turn he won. He was confident the girl could not stop his trap seeing as how she had no cards in her hand at the time.<p>

Taking another break, Yuushi took a walk and this time he saw Ryoko in a duel.

"Mist Valley Apex Avian, attack Asura Priest!," she yelled out.

The opponent had Asura Priest with the Equip Spell Card, Mirror of Yata. Despite this, Ryoko's huge gold and orange bird cried out releasing sonicbooms from its mouth, The multi-armed grey-blue Spirit monster tried to defend itself but it soon was blown completely off the field thus ending the duel as the 'WIN' announcement appeared over Ryoko. The two duelists put their Duel Disks away as Ryoko noticed Yuushi and walked over to her.

"So how are things?", she asked.

Yuushi smiled, "Well it's more exciting than siting at home flipping through channels and guides. I thought Delta had a lot of duelists but this place..."

As they started to talk, Yuushi's D-Gazer started to beep as he hit a button and an image of Ayumi popped up who asked, "You guys busy right now? Want to meet up?"

After the questions, the boy replied, "No, I'm with Ryoko right now and she just finished a duel."

Ryoko realized something suddenly and added on, "Hikaru should be here pretty soon too. He contacted me during my duel and I told him where I was."

"I'm on my way too. See you guys," Ayumi said quickly as the communication was cut.

Ryoko looked over to Yuushi and continued on, "Looks like all in all, today wasn't so bad. Like you said better than flipping through the television at your house. I hope it doesn't take too long for them to get here."

It was only then, that Yuushi remembered something and started to run off, "I'll be right back in a moment. Need to make a call."

The boy quickly made another call underneath a tree as a woman picked up on the other end after a few moments and Yuushi greeted her, "Hi, Mom. Are you off work yet?"

Hearing voices in the background, Yuushi deduced that she probably was not finished or at least a bit busy as his mother confirmed, "No, but for now I think I can talk a bit. Did something happen?"

"No, nothing. I just wanted to say that I'm with my friends by the shoreline and that I probably won't be home for a while. Just called to make sure you didn't get worried or something," stated Yuushi trying to hurry the conversation up for his mother.

"Just like your father," Yuushi's mother immediately commented.

Yuushi was intrigued by that remark, "What do you mean?"

His mother smiled a bit, "Well he's also not at the lab exactly. He called me and said that he's going to be doing some field work. It's the reason why he was able to come back closer to Heartland City in the first place, they're investigating something but he didn't exactly tell me what."

Suddenly, the background noise increased as Mrs. Sakudo looked to her side and nodded to someone off-screen and looked back to her son. "Well...then...don't...too late...have to go, have fun...," Mrs. Sakudo said trying to tell her son to enjoy himself as that communication was over now too.

By that time Yuushi went back to the location to meet Ryoko except by now, Ayumi and Hikaru were there too as the four of them met up and discussed the day's events. They say at a small round table and ordered some food as they talked about duels, the view of the shoreline, the environment and surroundings, etc.

* * *

><p>After a couple of more hours, the event was over as the sun had mostly already gone down, signalling the beginning of the night for Heartland City as streetlights started to activate which illuminated the main streets, the densely populated areas or any area which was city-ordained. They had reached the monorail station and the group of four was now waiting for the next monorail to arrive so that they could head home. After a few minutes, the monorail arrived and everyone boarded it. Ryoko was the first to split off as her stop was first, Hikaru was the next one and Yuushi was the next one off with Ayumi's house being a bit further than his stop.<p>

"See you then," Yuushi hastily said while getting off at his stop.

"Good night," the girl quietly responded back.

With those last words, Yuushi left the monorail station and went down the stairs onto the streets of the city. At this time, there were still a few people walking on the streets but there were more people in cars and other vehicles of transportation, likely heading home at this point.

"Guess that was fun and all but I wonder what mom's doing now. Tomorrow there aren't any classes at school so I wonder what I'll be doing tomorrow," Yuushi pondered to himself.

As he continued to walk home, he turned the corner on the next street onto a side road. There were considerably less cars and people now than any of the main streets but this way was faster to his home than any other. Yuushi looked around and noticed that people's houses still had lights on meaning that people were still quite active at this time of the night. He wasn't too surprised though but just needed something to concentrate on and pass the time while he walked home.

Looking around though Yuushi wasn't quite ready for what happened next. He abruptly felt something amiss as though something akin to a sixth sense triggered. There was something shining in his deck holder as he pulled out a radiant Arcanite Magician card and looked down the alleyway. The boy could not really explain what, but he felt something indescribable pull him toward the alleyway.

Looking down the alley, it wasn't completely dark but he still had some doubts and contemplated what he would do. "_Other than the glowing card...I'd normally just walk away but this clue is probably the best clue I've got about this card. I've always wanted to find out what this card is and where it came from and maybe, just maybe, this feeling will lead me to an answer."_

After putting away the card, Yuushi could still perceive something guiding him deeper and deeper into the alley. It didn't take long until Yuushi saw a brief flash of light around the next corner as he ran over before the light completely faded. As the flash subsided, Yuushi noticed two duelists, one with dark-red hair standing on one side and another closer to him was a boy flat on his back. Both of them had bruises and cuts but the boy on the ground seemed to have gotten the worse of things. The red-haired male noticed Yuushi as Yuushi got a closer look at the person on the floor who was in an unconscious state.

Before Yuushi could ask anything, the red-haired individual grinned a bit crazily and quickly brought up his Duel Disk and sent a card straight to the graveyard. Yuushi didn't quite get a good look at the card but that was the least of his problems now. The alleyway started to get brighter and brighter as Yuushi noticed something behind his opponent towering up into the sky. It was a fairly faint outline of something fluttering in the wind, something akin to a veil which started to cover the area around them. Yuushi got his Duel Disk ready as a flash of light forced Yuushi to close his eyes for a few seconds as the light faded.

As he opened his eyes, he, the red-haired duelist and the unconscious person were in some strange location. The area was like a blank dark blue-black space except the background had a faint rainbow-like glow to it. The Arcanite Magician card stopped glowing as Yuushi could already tell that a few other things weren't quite right about the place. First of all, there was a more opaque veil around them that Yuushi tried to walk through but the veil was solid meaning that they were locked inside with no escape. Additionally, no cars or people could be heard, not even random chatter or the sound of cars passing by or honking.

"_Curtains, just like in the rumor..."_

Quickly after a glance, Yuushi asked the red-haired person, "Just where are we?"

The other duelist kept quiet but started to get himself ready as he looked over at Yuushi. "If you want to get out of here, I'd suggest you duel," the mystery person said in a flat and monotonous voice.

Yuushi thought this guy was too strange to duel as he tried to contact someone and let him them know where he was. Unfortunately, he couldn't open any communication lines or send any e-mails out to anyone. After a few more tries, Yuushi decided not to try anymore seeing as the communication channels were probably not up at the time.

"That won't work. How about it then? If we duel, I'll give you what you want and I'm sure you'll give me what I want," the opponent said with a wide grin as his eyes widened.

"_Just great..,"_ he thought sarcastically, _"...well what I want is out and if I have to duel this guy for it, I guess there's no choice now. Still, I have a bad feeling about all this."_

With some hesitation, Yuushi prepared his Duel Disk as it started to shuffle his deck as the same thing happened with his opponent.

"Just where are we?", Yuushi yelled again really wanting to know the answer.

Once again, his opponent kept quiet as they both drew five cards from their deck.

"Duel!"

Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Norio- 4000 LP<p>

"_At least he's not hiding his name,"_ analyzed Yuushi trying to get a reading on what exactly was happening. A brief moment passed neither of them moved in this strange place.

"If you're not saying much, then I'll make the first move," Yuushi shouted with a bit of annoyance in his voice and drew another card. His hand wasn't exactly the greatest, specifically since he couldn't think of a way to summon some of his stronger monsters, but he stood for a moment and came up with a plan. He was both nervous about the duel's outcome with this stranger but even more so about where they were and why.

"_I think I'd better play it safe. Take it nice and slow. No need to show all my tricks at the start, not to mention that I have no clue where we are...,"_ the boy thought to himself before looking at his opponent and declared, "I'll set this monster and another card facedown behind it. Your turn then!"

The opponent grinned as he noticed that this glasses boy was playing defensively. A horizontally placed card first materialized itself in front of Yuushi followed by a vertically placed card behind the monster. This meant that Yuushi had placed both a monster and a spell/trap card facedown preparing for his opponent's turn.

"My turn then!," the opponent yelled as he drew his first card of the duel. Widening his eyes, Norio grabbed a card, "I'll put these two down. If you're so scared to attack, nothing will hold me back then! I summon Flamvell Grunika in ATK mode!"

Firstly, two cards in the spell/trap zone were placed on Norio's side of the field before a cry was heard. Norio's monster card materialized in front of him as the black-haired boy looked on. From the card emerged a blue and yellow dragon dragon with a red flaming coat on the outer layers of its body. After descending down slowly and showing off its massive blue wings, the dragon looked over to Yuushi's facedown card (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"A Flamvell deck perhaps...," Yuushi whispered to himself.

"Say goodbye to that monster! Flamvell Grunika...attack!" Norio shouted loudly.

Unlike most dragons, the Flamvell one raised up its arms and generated a sphere of fire in its hand before the flames start to expand out. The fireball enlarged itself as Flamvell Grunika hurled the fireball at the facedown card. Yuushi's monster was revealed to be Apprentice Magician (DEF: 800, Level 2) who raised up a thin barrier to protect itself but the fireball collided with the barrier incinerating everything around it. As the explosion cleared, Yuushi's monster was no longer on the field.

Quickly Yuushi explained what exactly would happen as he focused, "When Apprentice Magician is destroyed by battle, I can search my deck and special summon a Spellcaster-type monster facedown as long as it's Level 2 or below."

As he stated, Yuushi flipped through his deck and found the card he wanted and revealed it to his opponent, "Another Apprentice Magician on my side of the field then."

The card materialized facedown on Yuushi's side of the field and now things were just like before the battle, or so Yuushi thought for a minute before seeing his opponent chuckle.

"Now it's my turn to tell you what I'm doing...," the red-haired duelist said as another fireball was already in his monster's hand, "Since your monster had the unfortunate event of coming across my monster in battle and being sent to the graveyard, you'll be the one paying. You'll pay for damages equal to your destroyed monster's Level multiplied by 200."

"So that's 400 points..."

Before the Spellcaster duelist could finish his train of thought, the fireball was thrown straight at him bypassing all his cards and defense as Yuushi shielded himself with his right arm which still blasted him back a distance though he was still on his feet. Smoke was coming out of Yuushi's arm as he panted with a different look in his eyes now.

Yuushi- 3600 LP  
>Norio- 4000 LP<p>

His opponent nodded to himself, "You're lucky that's all I can do this turn so I'm done but next turn, you'll be feeling the pain. Don't you worry about it."

Ignoring him, Yuushi managed to gain most of his composure but there was one thing that happened during that attack which would normally shake Yuushi up more but after being in this weird place, his mind was sidetracked already though there was an important matter at hand. The smoke coming off his hand may or may not have been a hologram. If the fireball were real, Yuushi would likely have taken a lot more damage than mere smoke but some bruises were starting to appear on Yuushi's right arm as a brief bout of pain registered in his body. While the injuries were very, very minor at this point, there should be no real injuries at all in duels since this was just Augmented Reality Vision.

Looking down again, the boy from Delta realized that the bruises weren't just figments of his imagination. This place was certainly no figment either as he scowled in his mind looking over to the other unconscious person and tried to stay calm, _"My arm...that was more than just AR Vision. Is this what happened to him...no, that can't be. On the other hand though, something strange is definitely happening. What does this guy want and how did we get here? But still, I don't think he's going to answer. The only other time I could think of damage being done like this is with...the Numbers. It doesn't seem like he has one but I can't afford to let my guard down now."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15 Preview<strong>

Yuushi: This duel...might just be more than a duel. There's something else going on behind the scenes. What did that guy do to get us here? Why is the damage more real? What does this guy even want with me? Hey! Hey! No answer...no use thinking about it I suppose. There's one thing I do know though, there's no way I'm going to lose!

Yuushi: Next time, Chapter 15: Emerging Threat

Yuushi: Guess that's that...but wait, who's that?


	16. Chapter 15: Emerging Threat

Yuushi didn't like where he was at all. He was in a duel unlike anything he'd ever been in before. He took a quick look around only seeing a blue-black space around them which was contributing to the awkwardness. Yuushi took a quick glance at his communication line which was not in service and his arm which was still a bit shaky from the last attack. Finally, he took a look at the unconscious person with them who was unaware of the duel happening right now.

Yuushi- 3600 LP  
>Norio- 4000 LP<p>

"Come on, don't tell me that's all you have? You shouldn't be scared now, save that for the end of the duel!" the opponent named Norio mocked.

Yuusei didn't exactly like the red-haired guy's attitude but responding to him would only agitate Yuushi and provoke Norio so Yuushi placed his hand on his deck and continued on as calmly as he could, "I draw!"

Now with five cards in his hand, Yuushi was hesitant. He didn't have any way that he could see to summon one of his more powerful monsters to help him out. Arcanite Magician and Endymion were out of the question since he had no tuners and Endymion wasn't in his hand and he had no way to send it to his graveyard. Still, he had Terraforming in his hand which could bring out Magical Citadel of Endymion with its numerous effects. Even without Endymion, Yuushi could still potentially benefit from the citadel's other effects. However, now wasn't exactly the time to play the card as Yuushi had other cards he wanted on the field first to maximize the use of his cards.

"I tribute my facedown Apprentice Magician I got last turn in order to tribute summon Magical Marionette."

With that call, Apprentice Magician disappeared off the field while a new card appeared in its place. The card summoned a large purple puppet with a red cloak and on its fingertips were strings attached to a wooden puppet. The puppet was holding two daggers and was being controlled by the puppeteer (ATK: 2000, Level 5).

Yuushi then showed another card in his hand as he played the card on his Duel Disk, "Then I activate the Spell Card, Terraforming."

Yuushi's Duel Disk shot out a thin blue light with temporarily caused the blue-black space around them to become light blue as the light eventually faded. However, Yuushi's Duel Disk continued to glow blue despite the background returning to normal as a card popped out from the Duel Disk into Yuushi's hand as he revealed another Spell Card. He showed the card to Norio and wanted to explain what it did but Norio seemed distracted as he looked at one of his facedown cards momentarily before turning his attention back to Yuushi and grinning.

On the other hand, Yuushi's Magical Marionette radiated a white-purple glow before powering itself up. (Marionette ATK: 2000+200= 2200 ATK, SC: 1).

"I'm so scared," Norio said sarcastically.

Ignoring him, Yuushi started his explanation, "Let me tell you what happened. First of all, thanks to Terraforming, I can add any Field Spell Card from my deck to my hand and I choose Magical Citadel of Endymion. Magical Marionette also gains a Spell Counter each time a Spell Card is played and for each Spell Counter, Magical Marionette gains an extra 200 ATK. Magical Marionette also has another ability but I'll need to play this card first, Magical Citadel of Endymion!"

The Field Spell slot opened up in his Duel Disk as he inserted a card into it. The battlefield changed from the blue-black space to something a bit more familiar. A huge tower emerged from the center of the battlefield as other buildings and magical runes started to appear. After a brief flash, the area was surrounded by trees and grass and even the background was a hybrid of sky and city. They were dueling on what happened to be a sidewalk of a city thanks to the Augmented Reality Vision system.

"What...What's this? Where are we?," his opponent shouted a bit annoyed at the change of scenery

Yuushi crossed his arms, "Unlike you, I'll actually answer this question. I played the Field Spell, Magical Citadel of Endymion which gives me the advantage. Thanks to this, just like with my Magical Marionette, every time someone activates a Spell Card, the citadel gains a Spell Counter which I can put to use."

Again, Magical Marionette glowed which signalled another increase in power (Marionette ATK: 2200+200= 2400 ATK, SC: 2).

Without hesitating, Yuushi continued, "Like I promised earlier, Magical Marionette's monster effect activates. By removing two Spell Counters, I can destroy any monster on the field...," the boy said and pointed to Norio's Flamvell Grunika, "...like your Flamvell monster."

After a quick motion of its hands, Yuushi's Spellcaster shot out additional strings which attached themselves to the dragon monster. The strings started to glow in a white-purple manner (Marionette ATK: 2400-400= 2000 ATK, SC: 0) before Flamvell Grunika glowed in the same color before finally exploding in a flash of light after a delay of a few seconds.

Norio's wide suddenly widened as the grin on his face started to get more crazed, "You fool! You really wasted all that effort and time just to walk right into my trap!"

Yuushi took a step back out of instinct as Norio triggered a Continuous Trap Card which had the purple background indicating it was indeed a trap and the image showed someone hitting some sort of fiery substance which then exploded.

"Backfire...," Norio uttered quietly before starting to shout, "Now the pain can really begin! I'd suggest you think a bit before you continue on attacking me since when a Fire attribute on my field is destroyed you take 500 points of damage!"

As Flamvell Grunika disappeared off the field, Yuushi was startled but before he could say anything, the ground beneath his feet started to glow red-orange before an explosion triggered right by his feet sending him flying upwards. After landing, not only did the explosion trigger a shockwave causing his feet to ache but he started to get minor red marks on his left knee and ankle as well.

Yuushi- 3100 LP  
>Norio- 4000 LP<p>

Yuushi managed to get up after a moment and panted slowly but realized that he still had his turn to finish up, "Magical Marionette! Direct attack!"

With no monsters, Magical Marionette looked towards Norio before firing off its puppet. With a few motions, the strings attached to the dagger-wielding puppet shook as the puppet flew through the air above Norio before coming down with two slashes. One of the slashes connected near the shoulder and the other by his chest. Norio staggered back a bit before falling to one knee as Yuushi noticed that he was cut in the same two areas as his monster's attack. While the cuts were minor in comparison to what a real dagger would have done, Norio was still holding his shoulder with one hand.

Yuushi- 3100 LP  
>Norio- 2000 LP<p>

Yuushi didn't realize his own attacks would cause Norio damage too and before doing anything else started to analyze what had happened. He felt a bit unnerved by the attacks but shook his head trying to stay collected.

"_What happened to him? Even from my attacks, he took damage. I don't think that I've done any real damage in a duel before. The only thing that's changed is...that curtain thing at the start of the duel. Yeah. He inserted something into this graveyard and got us into this mess. But why? What does he gain from all this..."_

With a psychotic grin, Norio turned to Yuushi and started talking, "Not bad. Not bad. Haven't been this banged up in a while. At least this keeps things fun and interesting, wouldn't you say."

As he finished, Yuushi's dark-red haired opponent chuckled as it got increasingly louder. Certainly, Yuushi didn't know how to respond properly and tried to shut him out while he focused but the laughter was getting progressively more annoying.

Taking a look at Norio again, Yuushi went through the last turn in his mind before coming to his own startling realization as he was scowled, _"Could it be...the real reason that he was so happy to have his trap up despite losing more Life Points than me...the reason he's grinning despite being wounded...I don't think he's playing to win or have fun...he's playing to injure people. All these burn effects rather than just one swift normal attack, he's not interested in my monsters, he's just interested in damaging me..."_

As Yuushi's thoughts were only speculation, he didn't have any proof or any method to validate his theory while Norio looked on a bit bored, "Come on, don't tell me you've given up already."

Yuushi heard Norio's taunt and wanted to answer but looked at his hand instead, _"Best not to do anything to agitate him. I have to keep focused and not worry about where I am or why these injuries are occurring right now. It's like the saying goes, unpredictable people in the corner are the most dangerous types of people. If he's really planning to use burn effects, then hopefully this card will help."_

A card materialized facedown on Yuushi's side of the field, "I'll set this card and end my turn."

"Now you're talking!," Norio yelled out and drew a card. "You're lucky you have some defense, well at least for now!"

With a wild look on his face, Norio slammed down a monster card onto his Duel Disk. From the monster card, a rock seemingly made of hardened magma erupted from a fiery explosion taking on the form of a dog. The firedog had a red-orange glow to its black solid body as sharpened claws were seen on the dog's feet. With a howl, the dog prepared to pounce (ATK: 1900, Level 4).

"_Flamvell Firedog...that doesn't have quite the ATK necessary but still...,"_ Yuushi thought to himself.

"I also activate the fury of the Equip Spell Card, Volcanic Tampering. This raises the ATK of my Flamvell Firedog by 600 and changes my monster to a Pyro-Type monster which means your monster is toast!," Norio shouted triumphantly.

With another howl, an immaterial flaming dragon surrounded Flamvell Firedog covering it in an aura of flames as the monster's power increased (Flamvell ATK: 1900+600= 2500 ATK)

Norio's monster now had more attack as Yuushi looked on realizing what would come next. Before that though, he had to mention one thing, "Since you activated a Spell Card, both my citadel and my monster gain a Spell Counter (Citadel SC: 1) (Marionette ATK: 2000+200= 2200 ATK, SC: 1)."

Before attack Norio took a quick glance at Yuushi and continued his turn, "Like I care. Flamvell Firedog, take a bite out of Magical Marionette. Attack!"

Right after the command was issued, the dog monster intensified the fiery aura around it as the flames started to converge by the monster's mouth. With a single lunge, Flamvell Firedog picked up speed as it was headed towards Magical Marionette who tried to defend itself with its puppet. As the sword puppet and the dog collided, the fiery aura incinerated the puppet before Flamvell Firedog got into range and bit into Magical Marionette causing the monster to explode. Looking up and seeing his monster go to the graveyard, Yuushi was suddenly hit with a minor shockwave cutting through the area around them as the shockwave collided with Yuushi's body but didn't do any major damage.

Yuushi- 2800 LP  
>Norio- 2000 LP<p>

Yuushi looked at his deck anxious to draw his next card but Norio noticed it and commented, "What's the rush? You seem a bit in a hurry. Pretty rude since I'm not even done yet."

"What's that mean?," asked Yuushi.

Sure enough, Flamvell Firedog howled as Norio picked up his deck and started to look through it. He picked up a card and grinned maniacally to himself as he explained what he meant with his last comment, "Flamvell Firedog just took out your monster in a fight which means that I can activate it's effect. I can now special summon a Fire monster with 200 DEF or less straight from my deck. Appear now, Flamvell Archer!"

After a louder howl to the skies from Flamvell Firedog, Yuushi covered his eyes as a wall of fire momentarily separated the two duelists' sides of the field. As the fire wall faded, another monster appeared on Norio's side of the field. The individual seemed human with wild, bushy red-orange hair with matching colored gauntlets, armor and bow (ATK: 1000, Level 3 Tuner).

"If you thought the attacks so far were bad. You're really not going to like what's coming next. A flaming arrow right in the eye thanks to Flamvell Archer. Hope you like blindness!," Norio screamed to Yuushi trying to intimidate him.

The smug grin annoyed Yuushi but he knew one thing. If the attacks dealt real damage, this arrow was a serious threat. Flamvell Archer puts its hands on the bow as a flaming arrow appeared in its hand from out of nowhere. Loading the arrow up, the monster took aim at Yuushi's face who scowled with contempt at this move. The arrow launched as the grin on Norio's face got wider and wider as Yuushi swung his arm horizontally as one of his facedowns revealed itself.

"I...I'll activate the Trap Card, Defense Draw!" Yuushi countered with a stutter.

The arrow collided with a barrier in front of Yuushi as the arrow exploded and disappeared while the barrier faded away.

With a light sigh of relief, Yuushi detailed what had happened, "Since battle damage was about to occur from that direct attack, I can activate Defense Draw which reduced that battle damage to 0 and I get to draw a card like so."

Yuushi drew his extra card making it the third one in his hand as Norio laughed madly, "That's no problem at all. I still have you right where I want you. Now, I think I'll tune my Flamvell Archer to my Flamvell Firedog."

Flamvell Archer turned into three green rings which floated in the air parallel to one another as the rings passed through Flamvell Firedog. Afterwards, the dog turned into four shining spheres as a beam of light enveloped the rings once again in parallel fashion.

"Break free from the shackles of your fiery realm! He who predates the flames themselves! Synchro Summon! Ancient Flamvell Deity!"

For a second or two nothing happened but when the light completely disappeared, the floor started to shake violently. Yuushi was a bit awestruck and nervous when the ground in front of him cracked and a large monster surfaced. The area's tempertature started to increase as Yuushi and Norio started to sweat slightly. However, the large monster's presence shocked Yuushi as the monster fully appeared. Its shadow covered not only Yuushi, but even a statue in the Magical Citadel of Endymion as the black horned titan stood straight up. After opening its eyes, the monster's limbs were surrounded by scorching flames which ignited the area nearby (ATK: 2500, Level 7).

"Now for it's effect. When I Synchro Summon this card, I can remove from play a number of cards from your graveyard equal to the amount of cards in your hand. Thanks to your trap, you now have three cards. I remove Terraforming, Magical Marionette and Defense Draw from play! Better watch yourself," Norio warned.

Without warning, Yuushi noticed that his cards were consumed by flames. While it wasn't actually real fire, the temperature of both his cards and Duel Disk increased as his graveyard also started to glow orange-red before the glow in the graveyard disappeared. The three cards were removed from play as the ignited cards in Yuushi's hand shot off three red-orange orbs that flew towards Ancient Flamvell Deity before being absorbed (Deity ATK: 2500+200+200+200= 3100 ATK).

"I end my turn then!"

Yuushi heard the end of the turn but was more concerned with the redness near his wrist from the previous effect. He touched his wrist with his other hand for a quick moment and felt that it was indeed hot. Other than that though, there was something else bothering him.

"_Ancient Flamvell Deity is one of the strongest cards of the Flamvell archetype. Why did he play his turn out and summon it out after his Battle Phase. Right now, it's open to a variety of effects unless his facedown is something to save it. I'll have to be a bit more careful next turn,"_ Yuushi contemplated while looking over at his facedown.

"Draw!"

"_Solidarity...," _Yuushi thought to himself and added the card to his hand, "I'll summon the effect monster, Crusader of Endymion!"

A blue armored spellcaster with brown robes emerged. The individual was wearing a full plated armored helmet and upon closer inspection, multiple pieces of the armor were magically attached to the individual with turquoise rings as opposed to the person actually wearing it (ATK: 1900, Level 4).

Crusader of Endymion seemed to feel comfortable fighting in the Magical Citadel of Endymion as Yuushi looked at the central tower of the citadel. Norio noticed Yuushi staring at the tower and he himself got ready. Although Yuushi didn't quite have Endymion available at the time, that didn't mean he couldn't get ready to summon Endymion at a later time.

"I activate the Spell Card, Spell Power Grasp. This card lets me place a Spell Counter on a card and then I can add another Spell Power Grasp from my deck to my hand. I can only use one per turn but...," said Yuushi calmly.

In response though, Norio revealed his own facedown which was a Counter Trap as Norio removed from play Flamvell Grunika, "Flamvell Counter puts a stop to your pathetic spell. I already knew that you would try to put counters on your Field Spell the moment I saw it. You want to summon Endymion don't you?"

Yuushi didn't say anything but was a bit angry. While Spell Counters on the citadel can be used to summon Endymion, Yuushi had hoped to use it for other things. Spell Power Grasp was a good way to build Spell Counters since not only does it give Spell Counters and is a Spell Card but it allows Yuushi to use multiple copies of the card in successive turns and even thins his deck as a nice bonus. None of that mattered now though as an image of Flamvell Grunika appeared. The dragon roared as a fireball enlarged in the dragon's hand before the fireball was thrown at the Spell Power Grasp card on the field. The two collided as an explosion digitized the Spell Card before blowing Yuushi back who stood his ground.

"_At least the coast is clear. The only Trap Card on his field now is Backfire. It's not exactly a pleasant card but I should be able to handle it."_

Yuushi glared at his opponent, "I'll use a second Spell Card this turn, the Continuous Spell, Solidarity."

Another Spell Card materialized on Yuushi's side of the field. The card had the image of several different Ojamas holding hands in a circle. Both Solidarity and Crusader of Endymion gave off a faint green glow as the crusader was powered up by the card. Furthermore, the central tower in the citadel started to glow as more markings were starting to become visible (Citadel SC: 2) (Crusader ATK: 1900+800= 2700 ATK).

"Since only Spellcaster-Type monsters are in my graveyard, all Spellcasters I control faceup gain 800 ATK. Now for another Spell Card...", Yuushi stated as another card appeared onto the field, "...Blustering Winds. Until my next Standby Phase, another faceup monster I control gains 1000 ATK and DEF and since I only have one monster to use it on..."

As the card appeared onto the field, a vortex of wind picked up inside the citadel surrounding Crusader of Endymion. A flash of lightning struck down from the sky as the wind calmed and formed a trail behind Yuushi's monster (Crusader ATK: 2700+1000= 3700 ATK).

"What? His monster's attack is higher than mine now...", his opponent said slowly. However, unbeknownst to Yuushi, Norio smiled a bit.

Not only was did Crusader of Endymion receive a power boost but thanks to another Spell Card, the glyphs on the central tower got brighter as about half the glyphs were now shining (Citadel SC: 3).

"Now then, battle! Crusader of Endymion attacks Ancient Flamvell Deity! Take this!"

Hearing the Spellcaster duelist's order, the pwoered-up Spellcaster burst forward propelling himself with the benefits of the wind. Glyphs appeared all over the armor before releasing energy concentrated in the monster's fists surrounding by a faint aura of wind. With a quick leap, Crusader of Endymion had jumped towards the deity's chest before releasing magical energy. After a straight punch at the monster, a wave of blue light erupted after the attack before releasing a large blue beam going through Ancient Flamvell Deity. A few flames burst out from the attack onto surrounding buildings while both Yuushi and Norio were blown back by the impact. As both duelists struggled to recover, the blue light had faded leaving Crusader of Endymion as the only monster on the field in the citadel.

Yuushi- 2800 LP  
>Norio- 1400 LP<p>

Norio pointed to Yuushi after the attack and cried out, "I won't be the only one to suffer here!"

Norio's Continuous Trap started to glow as Yuushi braced himself for the aftermath of the battle. Backfire triggered as a Fire monster was destroyed on Norio's field and sent to the graveyard as a result. An explosion spontaneously occurred beside Yuushi who tried to cover himself with his arm was now red and definitely starting to burn. He panted with exhaustion and wanted to fall to the ground but he kept himself up while panting dizzily.

Yuushi- 2300 LP  
>Norio- 1400 LP<p>

"_He's trying to distract me with all this real pain...but this is just a duel and he just has a regular deck. Nothing different from a regular duel...I hope...",_ Yuushi thought while glancing at his opponent, "Turn end!"

Norio didn't say anything but hastily drew his next card and looked at Yuushi before smirking. "Do you think that by defeating Ancient Flamvell Deity that you've already won? Well if that's what you think, you're dead wrong. Now things will get really, really interesting!"

Norio slammed down a card on his Duel Disk in a hurry. The card was a Spell Card that Yuushi recognized. The black-haired duelist blinked in surprise as he realized that Norio had just played a powerful card.

"I play Rekindling. Now I can special summon as many Fire monsters with 200 DEF from my graveyard straight to my field. Since nearly every Flamvell monster has 200 DEF, I think I will summon every single one of them in my graveyard!"

With those words, three explosions were initiated as a heat wave shot out. Norio roared as the heat wave staggered Yuushi which caused his dizziness to increase and his vision got even more blurry. His glasses quickly steamed up but the heat wave stopped as Yuushi activated a function on his D-Gazer glasses allowing him to see through the steam. Three Flamvell monsters emerged amongst the explosion, Flamvell Archer (ATK: 1000, Level 3 Tuner), Flamvell Firedog (ATK: 1900, Level 4) and the large Ancient Flamvell Deity (ATK: 2500, Level 7).

Despite being outnumbered three to one, Yuushi wasn't too worried since his powered up Crusader of Endymion could beat all three of those monsters easily with its staggering 3700 ATK.

"Regardless of that, you had to use a Spell Card which gives my Magical Citadel of Endymion its fourth Spell Counter," Yuushi told Norio as additional glyphs lit up the central tower of the Field Spell (Citadel SC: 4).

The Flamvell duelist thrust his arm into the air forward nonchalantly and opened his palm signalling an action.

"Do you think I give a damn about your Spell Counters now? If one Ancient Flamvell Deity wasn't enough, how about two? Like before, I tune the Level 3 Flamvell Archer to my Level 4 Firedog in order to synchro summon another of my best monsters!"

The archer leaped the air and materialized into three green rings which surrounded Flamvell Firedog who had also leaped into the air by this time. Secondly, the dog turned into four shining lights indicating its Level before a bright light engulfed the rings and the ground erupted outwards.

"Break free from the shackles of your fiery realm! He who predates the flames themselves! Synchro Summon! Ancient Flamvell Deity!"

Lava shot out from the ground after the chant before the lava took the shape of the black titan already on the field. With scorching flames, the second black titan made its appearance known as the citadel started to catch fire (ATK: 2500, Level 7).

_"A second one...but still...what exactly is he thinking? I have no cards in my hand so he can't benefit from its ability and with only 2500 ATK, my Crusader will strike it down. Even if he summoned a third one, it won't do him any good. What was the point of that? Maybe an XYZ summon?"_ pondered Yuushi.

"I sacrifice the Ancient Flamvell Deity that was special summoned by Rekindling to summon the last monster of the duel!"

Norio's declaration shocked Yuushi as he waited for Norio's monster while thinking, _"Why would he sacrifice his best monster? This guy has a strange idea in his head I bet."_

One of the Ancient Flamvell Deities had disappeared in a bright red-orange flame as another fiery monster took its place. This one seemed human who sported wild and long red-orange hair with dark blue armor and red-orange spiked gauntlets. However, this monster had a large black portable handheld cannon as its main weapon which the monster was holding to its side (ATK: 2200, Level 6).

With a gasp, Yuushi said out-loud, "Wait a minute...the only reason you'd do something like that is if you want to use that monster's special ability..."

"Too late to figure that out! It's already over! I use Flamvell Commando's effect!" With a demented smile, a card spat out from Norio's Duel Disk, Ancient Flamvell Deity, as he looked at Yuushi with a twisted face and continued, "All this time, you've just been playing into the palm of my hand. I've really enjoyed our time together but still, all good things must come to an end. Once per turn, by removing from play a monster with 200 DEF in my graveyard from play, I can deal direct damage to you equal to the amount of ATK points of my removed monster."

Yuushi didn't look pleased at all, "Since you removed from play Ancient Flamvell Deity with 2500 ATK and I only have 2300 Life Points, that means..."

"You lose!," Norio yelled finishing off Yuushi's sentence.

Ancient Flamvell Deity was sent from the graveyard to Norio's remove from play area in his Duel Disk as Flamvell Commando's hand cannon started to charge up. With an echoing whirring noise, rings of heat started to surround the cannon as a red-orange sphere of light started to expand from the tip of the cannon. The whirring got louder and more frequent as the sphere got bigger and bigger. Yuushi was in disbelief as he quickly braced himself.

"Fire!"

Subsequently, the cannon was fired as a backlash of power knocked Flamvell Commando back. A molten stream of energy was headed towards Yuushi as the stream bypassed Crusader of Endymion. As the beam collided, a huge surge of energy shook the whole citadel leaving behind a huge cloud of dust and smoke. With a triumphant cackle, Norio looked over at the damage he had caused seeing the smoke subside, there was a large crater going into the ground...as well as a patch of land that remained unharmed. Norio could not believe his eyes when he saw his opponent on one knee heavily panting with bruises on his arms. He had expected worse as he quickly checked the score and noticed that Yuushi had not taken any damage.

"How...how...you can't...you must have cheated!" the red-haired duelist concluded in disbelief.

Seeing a revealed trap on Yuushi's field, Norio saw that his opponent was trying to catch his breath as the glasses duelist elaborated on what had happened, "Th...thanks to Damage Polarizer, I was...able to make it out of that. When you tried to use an effect to inflict damage to me, I used this trap which stops its effect and then each of us can draw a card."

Turning his eyes over to Yuushi's hand, he could see that the Spellcaster duelist had already drawn his card.

Norio's hands were shaking as he slowly but surely drew his own card and stared at Yuushi before asking, "How are you still standing? How haven't you lost already? You should be finished! Finished! Finished! Finished!"

Yuushi got up and replied slowly, "Seeing a Fire deck, most of them try to deal direct damage. Seeing this duel and how you've done most damage through direct burn damage, I assumed you had something like this up your sleeve, Your deck, while certainly strong...the strange moves, the style of a Fire deck, the two aces...I've dueled against friends with those things too."

Ayumi, Hikaru and Ryoko respectively were the people Yuushi recalled in his mind as the duel continued.

Norio was shocked and furious seeing that neither of his monsters could beat Yuushi's monster and started to panic. His hand contained Flamvell Fiend and Pot of Avarice which weren't helpful in this situation.

"When I get my next turn, it'll be all over. I end my turn for now," Norio threatened. _"I have two monsters with over 2000 ATK on my field including my strongest monster. He won't be able to get through that easily. Just need to hold on a bit longer"_

"Draw!", Yuushi called out signalling the start of his turn as he added another card to his hand. "Since it's my Standby Phase, Blustering Winds's effect no longer is active and Crusader of Endymion loses 1000 ATK and DEF (Crusader ATK: 3700-1000= 2700 ATK).

He saw that he had just just drawn Ready for Intercepting. While a good card, Yuushi looked at his other card in his hand, a Spell Card and remembered something Norio said earlier.

"_Since nearly every Flamvell monster has 200 DEF, I think I will summon every single one of them in my graveyard"_

Looking at the Spell Card again, Yuushi thought of a plan to win. "I play the Spell Card, Shield and Sword. You mentioned the low 200 DEF value as a key characteristic of the Flamvell archetype. Good to know since Shield and Sword will switch the original ATK and DEF values of all monsters on the field right now until the end phase. Any modifiers to the new ATK and DEF will still apply to the new values of course."

Norio was speechless, "What..."

The Spell Card Shield and Sword started to glow as a strange invisible force of gravity struck the battlefield. Each monster was knocked off balance for a moment as the gravitational force quickly disappeared. Some monsters quickly recovered while others were still shaking (Deity ATK: 200) (Commando ATK: 200) (Crusader ATK: 1200+800= 2000 ATK).

"While I could finish this, I have to be absolutely sure this will be over...he has no set cards so this should be safe",Yuushi said to himself while pointing to the large tower in the center as nearly all the glyphs lit up as another Spell Card had been played (Citadel SC: 5). "I will normal summon Crusader of Endymion right now to activate its special ability. Crusader of Endymion is a special type of monster known as a Gemini Monster who can unlock its real power through a unique form of normal summon.

The monster card on Yuushi's Duel Disk radiated a faint light as Crusader of Endymion took a wide stance. Faint light started to surround the Spellcaster as glowing runes and other markings started to appear all over the blue armor. The aura of light faded in a few seconds but the glowing runes were still there.

Norio was blinded momentarily and took a step back but Yuushi quickly moved on, "I activate my Crusader's monster effect. Once a turn, I can place a Spell Counter on any faceup card on the field that Spell Counters can be placed on. And when I do this, Crusader of Endymion gains 600 ATK until the end phase."

Crusader of Endymion pointed to the central tower and sure enough, the runes on the crusader's armor started to glow as did the final hidden runes on the side of the tower. Now all the runes were lit up on the central tower signalling that the Magical Citadel on Endymion could summon its creator (Citadel SC: 6) (Crusader ATK: 2000+600= 2600 ATK). Unfortunately for Yuushi, the last card in his hand wasn't Endymion the Master Magician but he still felt a sense of accomplishment in finishing the glyphs of the tower.

"No...no...," Norio muttered while thinking about how the Magical Citadel of Endymion had six Spell Counters on it now.

"You're the one who's finished! Crusader of Endymion attacks Ancient Flamvell Deity!"

Crusader of Endymion raised up its punching arm as the runes now released a secondary attachment on the armor further powering it up. With a propelled burst of energy, Crusader of Endymion quickly made its way up to the giant monster. The powerful punch connected and released a blue beam causing Ancient Flamvell Deity to roar in pain before a bright explosion and smoke covered Norio who struggled to recover. After another shockwave, both duelists were blown back again as Yuushi could feel a sting of pain as he landed. As the smoke cleared, Yuushi struggled to get up and felt his legs starting to lose energy as he somehow got to both feet anyways.

The area around them started to digitize and fade away. Yuushi's vision started to give out but he thought he saw something fluttering in the background before the AR Vision and the Field Spell faded away.

Yuushi- 2300 LP- WIN  
>Norio- 0 LP<p>

"_That curtain...what was..."_

Before he could think, his arm started to sting as his legs were bruised and about to give out too. As the AR Vision faded, Yuushi was brought back to the alleyway and walked over to Norio to see what had happened to him. Norio was knocked unconscious as his own deck was scattered along the ground. Taking a glance, Yuushi saw cards like Flamvell Fiend, Flamvell Archer and Flamvell Counter but also not one but two blank white cards. Finally, Yuushi's legs were starting to hurt so he leaned against the wall in exhaustion letting his body fall down to a sitting position. He looked at his arm and he was only in slightly better condition than either Norio or the other unconscious duelist though still bruised and battered. His vision also started to suffer as he felt that his whole body was drained of energy in the last duel.

"_Two blank cards...thought the news only said there was one..."_

Yuushi tried to raise up his arm and look at his own Duel Disk but he didn't want to push his luck and just sat by the wall. However, the next thing he heard was footsteps which got louder and louder. He turned his head towards the opening in the alley and noticed the moon in the sky. It wasn't a full moon but anything to keep his mind off that duel was welcome. His eyelids were starting to get heavy as Yuushi weakly saw two people running into the alley. They both had white lab coats and one of them seemed very, very familiar as Yuushi smiled slightly but a numbness hit Yuushi suddenly as his eyes closed and he was now too dazed to stay awake.

One of the people looked around and noticed the scattered cards on the ground and looked to the other person who was running to Yuushi. This person put away a strange device into his coat pocket before examining the blank cards, "Hey, you might want to come take a look at this."

The second person near Yuushi ignored the other person and knelled down taking a good look at Yuushi before giving a heavy sigh and whispering to himself, "Geez, your mother's going to kill me for this."

* * *

><p>About 30 minutes after the end of that duel, four people were sitting in chairs around a table in another location. All four of these people had black cloaks on with two having red stripes, one having silver stripes and the other with gold stripes on their cloak. Behind the four people was a medium-sized round pool of liquid water with a hole in the wall above supplying the pool with a continuous flow of liquid.<p>

The silver striped cloak person started to hit buttons of their D-Pad bringing up several screens of charts and data as the others looked on.

"Norio has left us with something in his defeat. Something I think has been a bit different from the other duels. His opponent had a strange reading...," the silver striped cloak person said.

The others remained silent and looked to the gold striped cloak person who stood up to take a closer look, "Hayato, continue on your analysis. How's the plan?"

The silver stripe cloaked person named Hayato brought up another chart, "About 55% complete. These recent duels have really sped things up. But still..."

After punching their fist on the table, the gold striped person bellowed out, "Enough! We need to speed this process along." The individual looked towards the two red striped cloaked people, "Both of you, we can't rely on the others. Their efforts are great but your efforts will be even greater. Immediately dispatch at once."

One of them quickly nodded and the other seemed a bit hesitant before that person nodded as well.

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Volcanic Tampering

Equip Spell Card

The equipped monster is treated as a Fire Attribute and Pyro-Type monster and the ATK of the equipped monster is increased by 600 points.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16 Preview<strong>

Ayumi: Yuushi, what happened out there?

Yuushi: I'll talk about it later.

Hikaru: You'll have to talk about it sometime or wait, maybe those guys can talk about it.

Ayumi: I hope so. Besides, they'll probably know more about these strange events anyways.

Yuushi: Wait, they want us to duel?

Ryoko: Well, there's still a duelist here we don't know much about. Chapter 16: Wild Card.

Hikaru: So what. That's makes it more exciting, right?


	17. Chapter 16: Wild Card

Yuushi was asleep for some time as he eventually opened his eyes slowly. He looked up and noticed that he was in his house, specifically his room. His vision was at least much better as he sat up. The lower half of his body was covered in a blanket as Yuushi removed the blanket and noticed that his legs still had a few bruises and left arm was still red. As long as too much pressure wasn't applied though, the minor pain and numbness was completely unnoticeable.

"_What? How? That's right, I had a duel with that Norio guy and then...how did I get back to my room...",_ Yuushi wondered trying to piece together what had happened. _"That's right. I won and then I saw two people in the alley and then I...I can't remember what happened afterwards."_

The boy fully got out of bed but took a quick stretch to ward off some initial numbness. He was still in the same clothes as yesterday which was somewhat awkward. After another yawn, he went downstairs and wanted some sort of explanation. He heard and smelled someone cooking something and went downstairs and saw his dad there making breakfast. Mrs. Sakudo had an appointment so she wasn't home as Mr. Sakudo grabbed some milk from the fridge.

"Hey Yuushi, I heard some footsteps upstairs and figured that you had woken up. You want scrambled or sunny side up eggs?," his dad said while rushing to grab something out of the fridge.

"So that really was you yesterday then," Yuushi replied with a pause, "What happened out there? I thought you were investigating something on the outskirts of Heartland."

"Actually, I will explain a bit later. I promise everything will be clear. Right now though, I need a favor from you. Do you personally know anyone who has come into contact with Arcanite Magician so far whether it be a duel or otherwise?", Mr. Sakudo abruptly said.

Normally Yuushi would want some sort of explanation but since it was his dad, he trusted him and answered the question after some thought, "Well personally I know that Ayumi was the one who was with me at the mall when I used Arcanite Magician there against the Number. Hikaru has seen it a few times and I used it against Ryoko in the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament."

His father got a plate and put some ham on the plate as well as the now finished sunny side up eggs, "Do you think the four of you can come to the lab today? I know that it's not exactly the best way to spend the weekend but it'll be very, very valuable. We have some hints about Arcanite Magician now which ties into your duel yesterday. It isn't much but it's better than nothing. I'll answer all your questions at the lab. Also, tell your friends to bring their decks. Oh, sorry about the eggs, you didn't say anything so I just made them sunny side up."

Yuushi felt a bit comfortable since he was with his dad though he'd never admit it out loud, "Nah, sunny side up is good. I'll call them and see what happens."

"If we go, I'll leave a message for your mom. It was a good thing it was night and she didn't see the bruises but she was still worried since it was a bit late when we got home. I told her that after you called me, I had picked you up from that pier duel gathering event. I decided not to tell her anything too much since telling her would have probably upset her," the scientist said somewhat absentmindedly.

Yuushi didn't say anything but nodded and worked on finishing up his breakfast.

After about 35 minutes or so later, Yuushi had called all his friends and told them that his dad had a request and asked them to head to the lab with him. Ayumi was interested in seeing what a laboratory would look like and agreed to come. Hikaru wasn't too excited spending his day at a lab but since the situation was urgent and for a friend, he couldn't really say no. Lastly, Ryoko was interested in hearing more about a card like Arcanite Magician and agreed. The plan was to meet in front of Yuushi's house and they would get going as soon as possible. They were aware that the lab was about two hours away so the trip would take some time.

* * *

><p>25 minutes after the calls were made, everyone was ready to go in front of Yuushi's house as everyone piled into Mr. Sakudo's van. Yuushi's mother had taken the car and Mr. Sakudo figured that a van would be more suitable for driving five people anyways. Yuushi at least felt it was the right thing since everyone had enough space to be comfortable for the long drive. Everyone had brought their decks as Mr. Sakudo requested though no one really knew what the purpose was at the time.<p>

An hour later, Mr. Sakudo was driving in a straight path with less to no cars near him. Taking a look back, he wanted to see what everyone else was doing.

"Going to be one long ride," Hikaru commented aside.

Yuushi looked out the window as they passed by a more rural area while talking, "Well that's not a surprise, but thanks for coming along with me."

Ayumi nodded and smiled, "That's fine. I've never been inside a high-tech lab before and maybe I can learn something. Modify some gadgets I have, maybe further customize my D-Pad and D-Gazer and if not, I'll see how the professionals do it."

"What sort of gadgets?," questioned Ryoko curiously.

"Well, they're either add-on applications to our D-Pads like enhanced duel replay or attachments to D-Gazers like night vision, zoom-in, maybe different color tinting, etc," Ayumi replied back.

Hikaru took a yawn before laying completely back on his seat, "That sounds great and all but I think I'll take a quick nap. Wake me up when we get there."

Ayumi quickly glared at Hikaru, "But then we won't be able to hear why we're going. Something happened to Yuushi last night and I'm a bit worried about it honestly."

Ryoko looked at Yuushi for a minute, "Yeah, are you alright? That red arm doesn't look like it's fully recovered."

"It's fine though I'm still not sure how to explain everything that happened yesterday," the Spellcaster duelist said while noting the condition of his arm

Yuushi's father interjected himself into the conversation, "I'll explain everything when we get there. By the end of the day, you'll know as much as we do about this whole curtain and blank card incident as the media would call it."

The only person who didn't hear Mr. Sakudo was Hikaru who by now had dozed off with his eyes closed and his head rested to the side by the window. That conversation ended as the group went back to talking casually or just looking at the scenery.

* * *

><p>After about another hour and 30 minutes later, the group was technically on the outskirts of Heartland City, a bit outside the border as they arrived at the lab. Mr. Sakudo led them through the main automatic glass doors and led them further in the back. There were a few other people in lab coats and I.D. Cards walking around chattering about all sorts of things. Everyone but Mr. Sakudo looked around in awe seeing a high tech lab and all the machines, lights and gadgets involved. As they entered another room through an automatic metal door, the group noticed that this circular room was much larger with several floors and even had some benches and vending machines around.<p>

"So is this where you work, Dr. Sakudo?", Ayumi asked.

"_Dr. Sakudo...,"_ Yuushi noted in his mind. While that is technically how people would address him, he always felt a bit awkward hearing it since he always just used 'dad'.

"Me and my team. We're currently conducting a few experiments with one of our latest finds and...," the scientist said casually.

In the next moment though, another person in a lab coat ran up to the group, "Dr. Sakudo, the box is ready for testing."

"...Speaking of latest finds, would you guys want to see a bit of our work upstairs from the observation area? Should be less boring than a walking tour. I'll have to be down there to supervise however," Mr. Sakudo said while looking happy.

"Now we're talking! Maybe we'll get to see something really cool," Hikaru stated with excitement.

As the other scientists were testing and adjusting some machines, the five of them went up to the observation deck and looked down. There was apparatus set up including scanners, charts and computers which all surrounded a large metal box about the size of a small television. This box was further secured inside some sort of giant glass container the size of a small room. Upon closer inspection to the metal box, there was a mark of a dragon's head made of the same substance at the front of the box. On another scientist's orders, another laser-like device was put into the glass container aimed at the metal box. The groups looked down with awe as the scientists were making the final adjustments to their machines.

Ryoko tilted her head, "Wonder what they're going to do?"

"Just going to try to break that box open. We tried using blunt force so now we'll try something a bit extreme. I'm presuming you're the kids that came along with Dr. Sakudo," a scientist with goggles behind them said.

Yuushi nodded and the goggled scientist chuckled as everyone watched down below. The group above could see peoples' mouths moving but the area below must have been soundproof seeing as they couldn't hear anything such as the machines starting up or people talking. Sure enough, the laser fired a concentrated blue beam at the top of the box. The box's temperature rapidly increased as the laser kept heating up a small area which eventually started to turn red-orange. About 30 seconds passed as the laser reached a peak now causing a small area around its focal point to glow red-orange as well. The laser kept striking the box but eventually, the scientists decided to turn it off. Yuushi looked down after a few moments and noticed that despite the laser trying to burn through the box, the metal-like box didn't really get scathed at all seeing as there was no visual differences from before and after the laser was applied. The scientists then disassembled some machines and put them away as the experiment was seemingly over for the time. Eventually, Yuushi's dad joined the others back in the observation with a sigh of depression.

"Don't worry Dr. Sakudo, I'm sure you'll have it open soon enough," the goggled person commented.

Mr. Sakudo sat down with a clipboard and replied, "I guess. Still, something like this doesn't come along. An artifact from the era around the first World Racing Grand Prix (WRGP)."

Yuushi had heard a bit about the first WRGP from books he had studied. There wasn't too much detail but he knew that it was definitely a time where Duel Monsters related phenomenon was more widespread. This caught Yuushi's attention as he asked his father, "How do you know it's from the first WRGP era?"

The goggled person replied back, "When we excavated this metal box, there was a small manuscript inside. It stated that during the first WRGP, there were machines known as the Machine or Meklord Emperors whose main purpose was to absorb and eliminate Synchro monsters. Not only did these monsters pose a big threat to duelists at the time where Synchro monsters were very popular but some of these machines also caused damage to the real world.

Yuushi couldn't help but remember briefly about his own encoutner with duels that damaged the real world as he shook his head.

"_Synchro killers? Hmm...",_ Ayumi pondered to herself before asking, "Then how did they counter these machines if they relied on Synchros. Did they just not use Synchro monsters then for a while?"

Mr. Sakudo answered, "On the contrary, some people did that while others actually evolved their Synchro monsters. There were a few ways to do so and the manuscript stated that their variation was called Accel Synchro which allowed them to Synchro Summon during the opponent's turn. As far as I know there aren't any other records of this Accel Synchro so I can't personally confirm or deny the claims. How about you Dr. Hokate?"

The goggled person named Dr. Hokate shook his head, "Nope, not me. But since not everyone could Accel Synchro, scientists during that period worked on a new way to counter the Machine Emperors, even after their threat was over. According to the manuscript we discovered upon excavation, upon a threat's arrival, to those deemed worthy, will receive the power of evolution which defeated the Machine Emperors. That power is supposedly contained in this box and well, as you all saw, we can't exactly see what it is."

The high schoolers didn't say anything as they thought about what these Machine Emperors must have looked like. They must have been large for one thing and likely made of some metal if it's a machine. Other than that, everyone had their own opinions on the machines' appearances.

Another scientist came in and whispered something to Mr. Sakudo who told everyone, "Alright looks like we're ready. There is a reason I called everyone here today. If you guys don't mind, we'll be heading to a different room. Feel free to ask anything about the whole blank card incident in Heartland City and I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge."

Yuushi, Ayumi, Hikaru and Ryoko, followed Mr. Sakudo and Mr. Hotake as they started to walk down a corridor. The three students from Delta looked at Yuushi who looked back at them as he realized something. He's the only one of them to his recollection that has personally been in the whole curtain/ blank card incident which made him the one who knew the incident the best.

Recalling the events of that night with the duelist known as Norio, Yuushi decided to think a bit and recall all the events. After a brief few moments, the group entered a different room, this one was much larger but much emptier with only a few machines set up.

"Yuushi, you got any questions?," Ayumi said to remind him.

After deciding he'd ask questions based off events chronologically, Yuushi opened his mouth, "Who exactly is Norio? I mean I know his name and all but anything about how he was able to cause that curtain effect thing at the start of the duel? Is that curtain even Augmented Reality or something?"

Yuushi's father contemplated an answer, "At first, our team had no idea what was happening. Then eventually, we were able to come up with a theory thanks to another group of scientists. This theory is called the Duel Monsters Spirit World theory which actually has origins since all the way back as far as we can trace it. Basically, long ago, it is said that Duel Monsters was a game with real monsters and magic and the realm these real monsters came from was the Spirit World."

Gasping to herself, Ryoko interrupted, "But, that can't be real, can it? I mean did anyone test this theory out?"

"Well many others including Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters himself, was stated to believe in similar mystical events and many have carried out a few experiments themselves. As for Norio, when he woke up, we tried to pressure him into telling us anything but he just looked at us with a blank stare as if he didn't have any idea what we were talking about. His outward personality was still intact but certain events and gaps that seemed to have happened in the last month or so relating to Duel Monsters, he has seemed to forgot about," Mr. Sakudo said.

"So what about the curtain and does it relate to the damage Yuushi took?," Ayumi responded back with concern looking at Yuushi's somewhat red forearm.

This time, Dr. Hotake fielded the question, "Well, this might sound strange and a reminder what we're saying is only our best guess but the curtain, we believe, is a temporary gateway to the Spirit World. If that hypothesis is correct, then we can take another step forward and estimate that the curtain draws the duelists into the Spirit World temporarily where Duel Monsters is more real than our world meaning things like real damage can be inflicted among other things we're not sure about yet. We tried to ask that Norio person about how and why he's doing this but as Dr. Sakudo mentioned, Norio has not been giving too much information, if he is able to in the first place."

The Spellcaster duelist was relatively satisfied except for one last thing, "What about the blank cards, what do they have to do with all this?"

"That...is something we're still working on. That's the main piece of the puzzle we're missing. It might be an unrelated incident but we can't rule out that the blank cards might be connected to our theory somehow. This is based off the pattern that blank cards have been sighted right after the curtain disappears near the involved duelists meaning there is likely some correlation involved. Sorry, I couldn't provide more information about that," Mr. Sakudo expressed with some regret.

Hikaru didn't really completely follow everything said about spirits but thought it would be amazing if what Yuushi's father said was true, "So how long will it take before you can prove this theory?"

"We're not quite sure about that. We've gathered a lot of information but I suppose it mainly depends on how fast we can piece together all the information we've found. The one who's funding all this, Mr,. Sikiri, is overseas but we have to give a brief report to him every once in a while. Usually every week or so," answered Mr. Sakudo.

"_Sikiri. Sikiri, where have I heard that name before...," _Yuushi pondered with his arms crossed.

Ryoko had a moment of clarity as she snapped her fingers once suddenly, "An overseas person named Mr. Sikiri. By any chance do you know if his son is Reiji Sikiri? On our first day at school, there was an opening ceremony where Reiji said he was going overseas with his father so he wouldn't be at Delta for a while."

"I see you all met Reiji. I figured he would have left by then but I guess he decided to let everyone know where he would be before he took a while off from school for a while. Yes, Mr. Sikiri's son Reiji is an upcoming and renowned duelist with a reputation even overseas. That's about all I know about the boy though," Mr. Sakudo mentioned and looked at his watch before grinning with anticipation, "Speaking of dueling, the last few machines should just be about ready."

A few minutes after that, Mr. Sakudo received a message on his own D-Pad as he led the four high school students to another part of the room with a sealed door.

Yuushi's father turned to the students, "We have something we'd like to test with the Spirit World theory but we'll need everyone's help"

"Us? What can we do, Dr. Sakudo?" Ayumi stated a bit intrigued.

Mr. Sakudo continued on, "You see, we don't have any really solid readings on Arcanite Magician so I'd like to gather a bit more information and hopefully cross-reference the readings to find something out. We'd like to first get a rough estimate on everyone's dueling level to standardize a few things. If you all don't mind, one by one you'll be dueling a machine inside five times each in a best of three match for a minimum of ten duels each. This machine has been set with five samples of difficulty levels which are 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100. The higher the number, the more difficult the duel. At about Level 40, the machine uses what we define as the average duelist with matching deck and skill while Level 80 is roughly the average pro level. It gets really tricky at Level 90 or so since the machine will use everything at its disposal to win, even incorporating cards that are considered mythical and one of a kind recorded in history and used by legendary duelists in the past. We're a bit short of time so we decided to have duels at a wide range of skill levels rather than repetitive duels at a smaller, more concentrated range of levels. These duels are not indicative of actual dueling skill and are just simply used as a measure for the experiment and data analysis. In the end, we'll have all the data so you don't need to remember anything inside or tell us how well you did. This experiment is completely confidential and anonymous so you don't have to tell anyone anything afterwards. Now Yuushi, don't feel pressured at all today to summon Arcanite Magician since we can still get certain readings off it even if it's not on the field. Just duel like usual and pretend we're not here."

"_Sort of hard...,"_ retorted Yuushi mentally while looking around at the machines in the room.

They heard the sound of a D-Gazer activating and a D-Pad preparing to duel as they noticed Hikaru step forward towards the sealed door, "Now we're talking. I'll make it all the way up undefeated and beat that Level 100 machine. It's a good thing you guys are recording this since you'll need to take notes afterwards."

Mr. Sakudo looked over at the eager Laval duelist, "Alright, if you want to go first Hikaru, go right ahead. Everything's ready. Just follow the instructions inside and good luck."

"Alright! Here I go!", Hikaru shouted out confidently as he walked inside the sealed room as the door closed behind him.

The others got their dueling equipment ready similar to what Hikaru did as Ryoko finished inserting her deck into her Duel Disk, "Human, machine or spirit, it doesn't matter to me. I'm just going to do the best I can after Hikaru's finished up with his duels."

"I'll go afterwards then. Just hope that I'm ready for whatever this machine has in store," Yuushi added on while adjusting his glasses.

"I'm the final duelist then," acknowledged Ayumi who was deep in thought after that brief statement.

While the duels were occurring, Dr. Hotake took a look at the data being registered including cards in the player's hand, cards played, cards in the deck and even recording a duelist's physical condition like heart rate and energy levels. Eventually, he compiled a brief profile for each of the duelists as he quickly started to rapidly type on a large computer. Screens popped up including various graphs, pie charts, words, etc.

As he separated the data, he quickly scanned over the information and muttered to himself while typing, "Yuushi Sakudo has used Arcanite Magician, Spell Power Grasp and Damage Polarizer among other cards. Ayumi Miyara has used Seven Swords Warrior, Lightning Blade and Reinforcement of the Army among other cards. Hikaru Aoki has used Laval the Greater, Spirit of Flames and Searing Fire Wall among other cards. Ryoko Mitsuya has used Mist Valley Thunder Lord, Quill Pen of Gulldos and Icarus Attack among other cards."

After all four students had their duels, Mr. Sakudo led everyone back to the large room, "Sorry that took so long but how did everyone find the dueling machine we had set up? Good, bad, average?"

Hikaru quickly spoke up, "Not bad I guess. Bit of a strange voice though."

"Pretty good programming, Dr. Sakudo. Did you do that?" Ayumi wondered out loud.

Dr. Sakudo chuckled, "No, it wasn't me. Dr. Hotake I believe did a bit but the majority of the duel program was set up by another team. He's analyzing the data from the duels against the machine you all had just now but there's one more thing I'd like from all of you while we're all here."

"What is it?," Yuushi asked curiously.

"You see, we need a bit more data from you all, if you don't mind. While dueling against machines is good for one sort of data, duels against real opponents generates another set of data while is equally as useful. Yuushi, you don't mind dueling against everyone here right?", Mr. Sakudo questioned.

For a quick second, Yuushi looked over to his friends as they each smiled lightly to him. Before he could mention anything, Hikaru commented, "Well if he has to duel everyone, I think I'll go first. We have a tournament finals that you owe me."

Ryoko stepped forward, "Hey, I want to duel Yuushi. He owes me a rematch now that I know he has Arcanite Magician. What do you say?"

"Yeah but you had your chance in the tournament already," Hikaru retorted back.

"You already went first on the machine," countered Ryoko.

Ayumi also stepped forward, "I'm here too you know. I've known Yuushi the longest so I'd like to try a duel against him with this deck."

For a while, there was an argument among everyone as Yuushi decided to let them settle things on their own. He figured that he'd duel against all of them eventually so the order wouldn't really matter, but clearly the others thought differently. About five minutes or so passed and the argument was still going on with no end in sight. Yuushi didn't want to interrupt since it might be interpreted as taking a side so he just sighed hoping things would be over soon.

Mr. Sakudo stepped forward now with an idea, "Well, if this isn't going to come to a conclusion any time soon, I have a solution. Let's try something a bit different. If we can't decide the order Yuushi will be dueling in, then how about we forget the order and just have a duel with all four of you at once. That way there won't be any quarrelling about who duels who and when"

"So you mean like a tag duel then?", Yuushi blurted out.

"I want to be on Yuushi's team then," Ayumi quickly mentioned.

Hikaru seemed shocked, "Yuushi and I make the best team. We've teamed more times than anyone else here."

Ryoko looked on, "Ayumi is Yuushi's best friend though..."

"So what? We have the best teamwork", countered Hikaru.

Mr. Sakudo cleared his throat, "Then how about you all duel in a free-for-all. A battle royal duel. You'll all be considered opponents to each other and it's sort of like a tag duel in which nobody can attack on their first turn. However, the main difference is that you can aid other players for whatever reason using spells and traps or simply gang up on one person. So about it then?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me," confirmed Yuushi.

"Then good luck and may the best duelist win but that'll be me," snickered Hikaru.

Ayumi closed her eyes and laughed lightly, "We'll see about that. But I just have a quick question, Dr. Sakudo. Do you have any spare Duel Monsters cards around here? I have an idea but I'll need a change of cards. Don't worry about the cards being rare, anything will do since I think I have the key cards for my idea."

Yuushi's father seemed puzzled, "Well the lost and found section I think has some cards but they're pretty common though there are a lot."

"Mind if I use them for a while?," the dark-brown haired girl requested as she reached into her jacket's pockets and had a stack of cards in her hands.

"If you find anything, I suppose you can have it then. No harm that I can see. I'll lead you to the lost and found if you'll just follow me. It's not too far from here so everyone stay here, we'll be right back," Mr. Sakudo answered

Ayumi and Mr. Sakudo started to walk away before the girl suddenly turned around, "Sorry about this everyone but it shouldn't take too long, I promise. I've thought about this idea since we saw that box with the dragon head in the other room."

The other three shrugged as Ayumi and Yuushi's father went through the door leaving them to chat amongst themselves for a while. Nobody really had any clue what to say but they were each preparing for the upcoming battle royal duel by slotting in their decks into their Duel Disks and getting their Duels Gazers ready.

"Wonder what sort of deck Ayumi is making?," Yuushi contemplated to the others.

Hikaru finished his adjustments and looked over, "Doesn't matter what sort of deck she uses, I'll just have to drop her Life Points to 0 just the same as with anyone else."

Ryoko rolled her eyes, "I'm not so sure. Honestly, I think Yuushi is asking a really good question. I mean she is technically sort of like the X-Factor or wild card of this duel."

"Wild card, X-Factor? What's that?," Hikaru shot back while looking at the other two.

"It's sort of like...how do I explain this. Alright, even I don't really know much about Ayumi's dueling strategy and style since she always changes. Unless of course, you both have something about her dueling tactics that I don't know about...," the boy with the glasses said.

Both Hikaru and Ryoko looked to the others in the room before giving an expression on their faces signalling silence as they couldn't answer Yuushi's question.

Continuing on with his explanation, "...Since we don't have much detail on Ayumi's dueling, we can't really predict anything she can do. She has something we don't."

Hikaru scoffed, "Doesn't matter. When her Life Points hit 0, she loses all the same no matter what deck or strategy she has. I already mentioned this."

"That's true but let me put it this way, do you what her ace is or what sort of deck she'll run? Burn, beatdown, hand or deck advantage, hybrid?", Yuushi plainly questioned. Nobody really replied so Yuushi continued his explanation, "Ayumi has information on us like our deck types, aces and combos. She remains mostly an enigma in terms of dueling which is what makes a wild card so dangerous. They can be anything which means that we have no information on her to gain an advantage. You can plan if you have information to work with but when you face an unknown or a wild card, things are different."

"In any case like you said Yuushi, if we can't plan, we can still play," Ryoko said making her final adjustments slotting in her deck into her Duel Disk.

Yuushi took a moment before concluding with a brief smile and a chuckle to himself, "I just wanted to see if I could come up with anything to deal with a wild card if I talked out loud. Ryoko's right though in any event. Whether at a lab or at school, I'm dueling with three of my friends so let's have a good time."

A few minutes after, Ayumi entered the room with Mr. Sakudo with her D-Gazer and custom silver D-Pad ready to duel. "Good luck then everyone," the girl said pleasantly.

Yuushi's father went to another room to observe the duel as Yuushi, Ayumi, Hikaru and Ryoko walked to different sides of the huge room forming a square formation among all of them.

With a click, the four duelists' D-Pad extended out forming Duel Disks, "Duel Disk set!"

A flash of light in each eye or in Yuushi's case, his glasses signalled another development as they all got ready, "D-Gazer set!"

"AR Vision- Link established," a female mechanical voice stated as the area around them started to digitize with each duelist drawing their initial five cards and determining their turn order.

"Duel!"

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Ryoko- 4000 LP<br>Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Ayumi- 4000 LP<p>

"Yes! I get the first move! Draw!," announced Hikaru adding a sixth card to his hand while getting excited. _"I'd better set things up for the next turn when we can start launching attacks."_

"I'll set this monster on the field and then a card facedown as well and that's it for me!", Hikaru exclaimed.

In front of Hikaru, a card materialized in a facedown horizontal position in front with another facedown vertical card behind it.

"Hikaru, you're usually more on the offense but if that's how this is. My turn, draw!," Ryoko announced to everyone.

She looked at her hand for a moment, "I summon Mist Valley Soldier."

A card appeared in front as a light shot out from the card. A monster started to rise out as mist surrounded the area near the card. The monster had the appearance of a white-winged humanoid covered in blue cloth wielding two daggers, one in each hand (ATK: 1700, Level 4 Tuner).

"_A Tuner,"_ Yuushi thought to himself.

"_It'd be risky for me just to leave this monster out since Hikaru may attack it next turn with a more powerful one. No problem, I'll have a surprise waiting for him if he tries,"_ Ryoko noted to herself and finished off, "I'll end my turn with two cards facedown."

Yuushi assumed Ryoko would try to Synchro Summon by special summoning another monster or something like that but quickly shook off the thought as two cards appeared on Ryoko's field signalling the start of his turn.

"Draw!," he shouted as he went over the situation, _"Right now, the only thing that I have any information on is Ryoko's Mist Valley Solder, a Tuner. She'll probably try to Synchro Summon next turn if that monster is still around. Hikaru seems to have the right idea. I'll also play defensively until the next turn at least and go from there. These Battle Royals are all about timing."_

He reached over and got three cards from his hand, "I'll set down a monster card and then I'll set another two cards in the magic/trap zone and end my turn with that."

Everyone took a glance at Ayumi as she looked at the card-filled field meaning that she was the last duelist to go, _"I wonder how this will all turn out. Guess I'll have to see."_

"My turn then!," Ayumi drew her card and started her turn, "I summon Trident Warrior to my field!"

A small orange-red glow appeared as a human warrior with green armor, blue pants and white cape materialized onto the field. This warrior did a battle cry as he showed off his two-handed lightning trident by swinging it around a few times (ATK: 1800, Level 4).

"Now I activate Trident Warrior's effect. Since I normal summoned it, I can special summon a Level 3 monster from my hand. Appear, Feedback Warrior!", the dark brown haired girl commanded.

On her call, the trident was raised up and started to glow as another Warrior-type monster was summoned beside Trident Warrior. This one resembled an armored knight except with speakers attached to its armor, specifically at the limbs and shoulders. Additionally, this monster also wielded a weapon of lightning but this one had a lightning sword with a jagged section near the hilt (ATK: 800, Level 3).

Her effects weren't quite finished yet, "Now for Feedback Warrior's effect. It's pretty useful right now, you know. When this card is special summoned, I can make any faceup mosnter I have become a Level 3 monster. Since I only have one monster that's not Level 3, I think I'll match their levels together."

The speakers on Feedback Warrior started to change as devices on the armor amplified the speakers. After turning towards Trident Warrior, each speaker shot out a wave of sound which synchronized into a light hum causing four stars, indicating the monster's level, to appear above Trident Warrior before one of the stars disappeared (Trident Warrior Level: 3)

"I overlay the Level 3 Feedback Warrior and the now Level 3 Trident Warrior!"

Feedback Warrior turned into a orange brown sphere and Trident Warrior turned into a brighter yellow sphere as both spheres shot up into the sky transforming into rays. A red portal appeared in the center of the entire battlefield as both rays were drawn into the portal.

"I create an overlay network! XYZ Summon! Show yourself, Grenosaurus!"

After a momentary flash of light, the red portal disappeared and on Ayumi's field was a lone red-brown dinosaur monster. The dinosaur had pieces of armor attached all around its body in sporadic amounts. Near its head was an armor piece that generated a small amount of flames that burst out as the dinosaur ferociously roared, revealing its sharp and large teeth. Lastly, the dinosaur had two red-orange orbs orbiting it in opposite directions which indicated its Overlay Units (ATK: 2000, Rank 3, OU: 2).

"I set three cards facedown and end my turn!," she declared. "Hikaru, it's your turn then."

Hikaru waited to hear those words for a while as three cards digitized on Ayumi's field. The Laval duelist was excited now, "Alright, Ayumi. Now I can really heat things up!"

Mr. Sakudo was monitoring the machines from another room. He didn't notice anything significant for the time as he took a quick stretch. _"So far there's nothing yet. The energy readings seem pretty normal but this duel has just started so I'll need to keep a close eye on things."_

Yuushi looked at everyone's fields. No one seemed to have an obvious opening to exploit and no one had lost any Life Points so far. His own and Hikaru's fields had no really useful information that the others could gather as all their cards were set. Ryoko had a Tuner monster out for whatever reason and Ayumi had an XYZ monster with 2000 ATK. What bothered Yuushi the most though was that he knew Hikaru had a Laval deck, Ryoko had a Mist Valley deck and he himself had a Spell Counter deck. Though he couldn't predict which cards would be played when, he had a general sense of how things would go and what cards were in their decks. This was not only because of their deck archetype but because they dueled so often with each other. On the other hand, Ayumi kept switching decks regularly and had no real pattern to her dueling. Even after being best friends for so long, Yuushi couldn't figure her dueling style. Even now, she used two Warriors to XYZ summon a dinosaur which threw him off for a moment.

"_Is she using a Warrior deck or a Dinosaur one? Power or swarming? Three facedowns as well means that she's probably planning to do something soon as her hand is almost completely depleted. But what?,"_ Yuushi questioned in his mind for a few seconds before grinning to himself, _"I guess that's what they mean by wild card."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17 Preview<strong>

Ayumi: I guess this duel's really started now.

Hikaru: Looking a bit bad over here, but I can turn it around! Just you all watch!

Ryoko: So that was your plan...

Yuushi: I could do something but it might...it might backfire.

Ayumi: Whatever anyone's going to do though, make sure that you think about it for a moment.

Yuushi: Chapter 17: Energy Spike. This duel, I'm going to enjoy it no matter what.


	18. Chapter 17: Energy Spike

By this time, everyone had made their initial turn. Though nobody could attack in their first turn of a Battle Royal, the four high schoolers had their fields set up relatively well. Hikaru was the first to go and he now had a set monster and a magic/trap card set behind the mystery monster. To Yuushi's right side, things were a bit different as Ryoko had Mist Valley Soldier with 1700 ATK but also had two set cards behind it. The last opponent was Ayumi on his left with an XYZ monster, Grenosaurus, with 2000 ATK and three set cards.

"_This is going to be tricky. You want to eliminate the other duelists but you can't do it in such a way that someone else can capitalize on you,"_ Yuushi thought to himself.

Nobody had taken any damage to their Life Points but now that attacks could be launched, Yuushi felt that would change soon enough.

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Ryoko- 4000 LP<br>Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Ayumi- 4000 LP<p>

The time for waiting was over as Hikaru started his second turn off, "Draw!"

He already knew what he would do this turn as he summoned a monster, "Let's really kick this duel off by summoning my Laval Warrior in ATK mode!"

The Laval duelist had summoned a brown golem monster with metal armor on its shoulders and knees. With two swings of its dual magma axes, the monster looked up at its competitors (ATK: 1800, Level 4).

"Now that he's here, I activate my Molten Transmission Field!"

A Spell Card appeared on Hikaru's side of the field as his graveyard started to emit a virtual red-orange glow followed by a hot blast of wind.

He explained the effect, "This card lets me toss two Lavals from my deck to the graveyard and I think I'll send Laval Coatl and Laval Magma Cannoneer to the grave."

After sending the two cards into the virtual flames, the fire died down as Hikaru's facedown moved into a vertical position and turned over, revealing a monster. Yuushi recognized the female fire sprite as Laval Lady of the Burning Lake. The creature had the appearance of a young girl with fiery red hair and a blue and white dress (ATK: 200, Level 3 Tuner).

Seeing his monsters, Hikaru got excited as the others knew what was coming next.

"I tune my...," Hikaru excitedly started to say before he heard someone activate a card. He looked over and noticed Ayumi had a Trap Card up. The picture of the trap looked like two men trying to sing but a dark blue aura was causing them problems with their voices. Similarly, Hikaru's two monsters got dizzy for a moment and the Synchro Summon was cancelled.

Ayumi looked over, "I activated my facedown, Discord. When this card is on the field, neither of us can perform a Synchro Summon. This effect lasts up until my third end phase starting now."

Hikaru was taken aback momentarily. He was expecting his ace to appear and take control of the duel. Laval Stennon had a handy defensive ability which would also assure that it could not be targeted by any effects he didn't want. However, he looked back on the field and hand and realized that he still had options. Maybe not optimal options but options nonetheless. There was one monster that was he knew for sure he could destroy right now.

"Change of plans since that Discord card will last forever. Laval Warrior! Attack Mist Valley Soldier!"

The golem leaped into the air and raised up its axes about to slash down on the girl's monster.

"I activate my own trap then, Compulsory Evacuation Device," Ryoko announced as a strange metal device sprung out of the card, capturing Laval Warrior inside before her monster was destroyed. The machine turned and pointed diagonally above Hikaru as Ryoko continued, "Technically both our monsters are safe now. The only problem is that this card sends your monster straight back to your hand!"

"You've got to be kidding me," Hikaru exclaimed as he could barely believe that he ran into another trap.

The device opened up from the top and launched the golem skyward as the monster eventually digitized back into a card which appeared in Hikaru's hand once again. The Laval duelist realized that he was in a tight spot now since his Laval Lady wasn't exactly the best combatant and he couldn't switch her into DEF mode now.

He scowled slightly with mental frustration but grabbed a card and placed it onto his field, "You guys just love placing traps, I see. Then I'll just place this down and call it a turn."

"Just looking out for my own monster," Ryoko lightly mocked Hikaru while starting her turn with a draw.

"_Now that I protected my monster, I'll do what Hikaru couldn't,"_ the brown-red haired girl thought to herself. "I summon Mist Valley Thunderbird."

From the blue summoning light, a yellow bird with an orange spread-out tail and orange and white patterns over its feathers emerged. The bird took flight as it flew slightly above ground level (ATK: 1100, Level 3).

This pattern was familiar as Ryoko raised her hand up, "Time for my ace to take the stage! I'm tuning Mist Valley Soldier to Mist Valley Thunderbird."

Both Winged Beast monsters flew forward with Mist Valley Soldier taking the lead as the monster quickly dispersed into four green rings.

"The power of Mist Valley graces through the winds! Soaring above with the strength of the storms!"

The yellow bird flew through the four circling rings before turning see-through with an orange frame and bursting into three bright orbs. A flash of light struck down on the field followed by a flash of lightning.

"Synchro Summon! Descend, Mist Valley Thunder Lord!"

Making its presence known, the Thunder Lord's shriek signaled the arrival of this powerful monster. This black-winged green-gold humanoid was about the same size as the Grenosaurus on Ayumi's field and it had metal hooks attached to the end of its arms. The monster landed on the ground with a large stomp looking down on the others (ATK: 2600, Level 7).

"_Mist Valley Thunder Lord...with it's effect it can reach a staggering 3100 ATK. Just looking at the numbers, that monster has the highest ATK value of any card in our decks as far as I know,"_ calculated Yuushi looking at the large creature.

With a wave of her hand, another of Ayumi's facedowns activated in response to the summon, "Continuous Trap activate! Tuner's Scheme. Sorry about this Ryoko but you're not going to like this at all because I now gain control of the monster you just Synchro Summoned out."

Ryoko was worried but before she had time to react, Mist Valley Thunder Lord disappeared in a flash of white light and reappeared on Ayumi's side of the field (Thunder Lord ATK: 2600 ATK).

"Oh...," Ryoko muttered almost speechlessly.

She was starting to get really worried as she realized that she was the only one now with no monsters on the field and had no way to special summon another monster right now. However, she didn't show it as she grinned and grabbed two cards in her hand, "...then I place two cards facedown and finish my turn. Ayumi, I'll get you back for that sometime, so you'd better get ready."

The other female duelist replied, "I'll be waiting then but I'll be sure to keep my guard up."

"Draw!", Yuushi shouted to begin his turn.

"_The only person on the field with any powerful monsters is Ayumi. Although her own Discord prevented her from performing any Synchro Summoning for a while, I didn't think she'd manage to get a Synchro monster on the field. She also has an XYZ monster with her so that's two monsters. If that's the case, I can just bring out..."_

He looked at his hand and he had almost all the tools to summon his own ace, Arcanite Magician to the field. Initially, Yuushi was planning to wait things out until he could but then his hand stopped and he hesitated for one moment. Following that, he recalled the last few turns, _"Each time a Synchro Summon is called, Ayumi interrupted it. Laval Stennon, Mist Valley Thunder Lord and now maybe me with her last facedown. Each of our aces are Synchros and...wait, don't tell me that her plan was to...alright, let me try something a bit different then."_

"I summon Magical Exemplar!," he declared with a change in strategy.

The Spellcaster that was summoned was a female with elegant turquoise robes and white gloves. She had her head exposed from the robes revealing long dark-green hair which was shining with a faint light (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

The facedown monster on Yuushi's field started to move, "Flip Summon! Royal Magical Library!"

The ground started to shake and as the name suggested stacks of shelves rose up from the ground. There were a few shining green orbs which were lights that illuminated the library. Despite something like this, an ancient library with its numerous and valuable texts, it was indeed a monster as its values were displayed to the other duelists (ATK: 0, Level 4).

"Here I go! I overlay the Level 4 Royal Magical Library and Level 4 Magical Exemplar!"

The library started to collapse but turned into a yellow orb as Magical Exemplar similarly turned into a brown orb simultaneously as both orbs shot into a red portal that formed in the center before the portal exploded into an array of lights.

"I create an overlay network with these two monsters! XYZ Summon! Appear, Flux Magician!"

On Yuushi's side of the field was a sleeveless robed male magician holding a scroll in his hands. The magician opened his eyes as glowing white rune markings appeared all over his body as well as two shining yellow orbs circling its body (ATK: 1800, Rank 4, OU: 2).

Hikaru was shocked at Yuushi's decision since Magical Exemplar was one of the methods he would normally use to summon his ace, Arcanite Magician. Nevertheless, he looked at his own Laval Lady of the Burning Lake and wondered if Yuushi was going after her now.

"Flux Magician's effect activates! By using an Overlay Unit once per turn, this monster gains a Spell Counter and for each Spell Counter on this monster, he gains 400 ATK. Not only that but Ayumi, I'll have you take Flux Magician's secondary effect of 400 points of damage while I gain 400 Life Points!", the Spellcaster duelist told the others.

The XYZ Spellcaster raised his hands as an Overlay Unit was absorbed and lightning started to appear on his fingertips before the monster thrust out its palm in Ayumi's direction releasing a charge of electricity that went through her. The Overlay Unit, Royal Magical Library in this case, was sent straight to the graveyard afterwards (Flux ATK: 1800+400= 2200 ATK, OU: 1, SC: 1).

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Ryoko- 4000 LP<br>Yuushi- 4400 LP  
>Ayumi- 3600 LP<p>

Yuushi had a lot of options and no clear option but thought things over for a moment, _"As things stand, I need to build some sort of a foundation and from there work my way up. I need Flux Magician to guard my foundation so I should play it safe. If I do attack Ryoko or Hikaru, they have the lowest defenses but I'm not sure what their facedowns are. Ayumi on the other hand has the most monsters but also the least information hidden with only one facedown..."_

Revealing another card somewhat hesitantly, Yuushi continued, "Now for my own Continuous Trap, Pitch-Black Power Stone! Right now, this card gains three Spell Counters (Power Stone SC: 3) and on each of my turns, this card lets me give one of the Spell Counters on Pitch-Black Power Stone to another faceup card that can receive Spell Counters. So now, I'll transfer over a Spell Counter to my Flux Magician!"

A black sphere with a golden triangular object rose up and started to glow white and lit up the area around it. Flux Magician raised up its hand as the monster received another Spell Counter and power boost as indicated by the momentary white glow around him (Power Stone SC: 3-1= 2) (Flux ATK: 2200+400= 2600 ATK, SC: 1+1= 2).

Despite having one of the more powerful monsters on the field, the black-haired boy took a final look at the battlefield before sighing once deeply and looking over to Ayumi's field.

"I attack Grenosaurus with Flux Magician!"

The XYZ Spellcaster dashed towards the dinosaur and pulled its arm back while a coat of electricity surrounded the arm before it was shot forward punching the dinosaur and sending it flying through the air before Grenosaurus materialized into bits of data.

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Ryoko- 4000 LP<br>Yuushi- 4400 LP  
>Ayumi- 3000 LP<p>

"I set a card facedown and end my turn," Yuushi plainly stated as his mind was focused on the duel.

Elsewhere, Mr. Sakudo had been monitoring the duel using a few computers in a room above the duelists. He looked at various screens for any significant changes as he leaned back on his chair staring at various charts. He took a quick drink while staring at the screen which hasn't really changed all that much as shown by the continuous and almost flat blue lines being displayed on screen.

"_A slight increase in released energy and heart rate from Yuushi but nothing that couldn't be explained by increase adrenaline from the excitement of the duel. Arcanite Magician hasn't really shown any activity either. The card itself is very faintly emitting something that seems harmless and minute enough but nothing that we don't already know,"_ the doctor thought to himself while continuing his investigation.

Back to the battlefield, the duelist with arguably the most secure and well-rounded field started to make her move.

"My turn then. Draw!," the girl with dark brown hair said to signal her turn.

Ayumi took a look at the card and she noticed it was a Spell Card before another female voice was heard from across the room, "Payback time!". The boys heard the voice clearly but Ayumi didn't as she was caught by surprise when her drawn card was blasted away by a burst of wind as the card drifted through the air.

She looked over at Ryoko who had a Trap Card revealed as the Mist Valley duelist explained, "I activated Drop Off when you drew that card. Right now, whatever you just drew gets discarded straight to the graveyard. You should have kept your guard up, Ayumi."

Taking the drawn card, she sent it to her Duel Disk's graveyard. The card was Reinforcement of the Army, an excellent card for decks containing many Warrior-type monsters.

With only one card left in her hand, there wasn't really much she could do except the following move. "I summon Warrior Lady of the Wasteland!"

A dark blonde female with a somewhat dark green sleeveless short top, shorts and boots along with a tattered brown cape and hat was summoned in front of Ayumi beside Mist Valley Thunder Lord. This woman also had a sword that was sheathed behind her back indicating her weapon of choice (ATK: 1100, Level 4)

"With Mist Valley Thunder Lord's effect, I'll return Discord to my hand so that this card can gain 500 ATK until the end of my turn."

With a reverberating shriek, a whirlwind from thin air briefly surrounded the Discord card on the field as the whirlwind quickly consumed the card before the Continuous Trap was added back to Ayumi's hand (Thunder Lord ATK: 2600+500= 3100 ATK).

The girl wanted to keep the card in her hand a surprise but everyone already knew what it was. Regardless, it was still her turn and she figured that there was no need to hold out, "I set one card facedown"

The lone card digitized onto the field, leaving Ayumi with no hand once again as she looked at everyone's fields and analyzed her strategy, _"Ryoko has a lot of cards that bounce cards back to a duelist's hand and one of her three facedowns probably does that. Hikaru's tuner isn't going to be very useful so that leaves Yuushi. Next turn if he uses Flux Magician's effect along with Pitch-Black Power Stone, Flux Magician will hit a constant 3400 ATK and I'll be in trouble."_

Ayumi was about to let go of a huge opportunity and she hoped that she wouldn't regret it. "Mist Valley Thunder Lord! Attack Flux Magician now! Thunder Stream!

Mist Valley Thunder Lord raised up its hands as a sudden flash crackled and lit up the area before lightning from nowhere concentrated in the monster's hands. With a cry and a thrust, the lightning was shot towards Flux Magician who prepared to defend. Yuushi knew that Flux Magician could not survive this attack, even with his facedowns but he had another plan as a card on his field revealed itself.

"If that's the case, I'll use my Quick-Play Spell Card, Magical Dimension!", the boy called out as he grabbed a card in his hand, "Because of this card, I can tribute one of my monsters to special summon a Spellcaster-type monster in my hand and I'll choose Blast Magician to summon to the field."

Chains burst from the ground pulling up a gold and black sarcophagus which opened up as Flux Magician leaped into the sarcophagus which then closed. The lightning from Mist Valley Thunder Lord struck the sarcophagus but no damage was dealt. As the attack was now over, the sarcophagus opened up and released some red fog before a different monster leaped out. The monster was Blast Magician was looked like a human wearing purple garments and red robes which covered his body and head (DEF: 1700, Level 4). The magician was down on one knee and had a scythe-like staff in front of him as a form of defense while the sarcophagus behind him now started to glow dark purple.

"Since that worked, I'll activate the other ability of Magical Dimension which lets me destroy Mist Valley Thunder Lord!"

The large Thunder-type monster was now glowing with the same purple aura as the sarcophagus when suddenly, both of them exploded and disappeared off the field. Since Mist Valley Thunder Lord was sent off the field, Tuner's Scheme follows as well as the card shattered into shining pieces. Not only that but thanks to Tuner's Scheme, Mist Valley Thunder Lord was sent to Ryoko's remove from play area rather than her graveyard. Ayumi still had a monster left as she took a moment to scan the battlefield through her D-Gazer.

She made a decision, "Warrior Lady of the Wasteland! Attack Laval Lady of the Burning Lake!"

Yuushi wasn't too surprised at that choice since her monster wasn't strong enough to match up to his Blast Magician and Ryoko had two facedowns and one of them was likely something to force her monster back to her hand which left Hikaru with a low leveled Tuner monster and only two more-than-likely non-hazardous facedowns to defend. Noticing the attack, Hikaru nearly activated one of his facedowns but then stopped himself as the female warrior slashed downward and destroyed his Laval Lady.

Hikaru- 3100 LP  
>Ryoko- 4000 LP<br>Yuushi- 4400 LP  
>Ayumi- 3000 LP<p>

"Then I'll end my turn with that attack," Ayumi bluntly stated.

Hikaru took a look at his graveyard, "Finally, it's my turn!"

With a draw, the blue-black haired duelist was ready now. "Since my Laval Lady of the Burning Lake was just sent to the graveyard, I have her along with Laval Coatl and Laval Magma Cannoneer in the graveyard. This makes three Lavals which lets me special summon my powerful Laval Burner from my hand right to the field!"

Hikaru's field lit up momentarily as a vicious brown golem with orange-red hair and searing metal gauntlets stood on his side of the field (ATK: 2100, Level 5).

"To further heat things up, I summon Laval Gunner to the field. Let's see you stop this Ryoko! I dare you!," he challenged as he placed his card on the Duel Disk.

This time, another much smaller but still armored brown golem appeared onto the field as two large cannons attached to its wristbands began to charge up. Laval Gunner did have slight similarities to Laval Burner since they both were golems and were both modified with metal armor to further protect themselves. The two monsters proudly stood side-by-side on Hikaru's field (ATK: 1800, Level 4).

"I'll take your dare then," Ryoko declared as she revealed a Counter Trap Card, much to Hikaru's silent dismay as she chuckled, "If you're heating things up, I'll have to blow your plan away with Forced Back. Like the name suggests, your normal summon is negated and thus your monster is forced back to your hand."

Hikaru complained in disbelief, "You can't be serious. Why me? Why now of all times?"

As the golem started to stand up with its charged up weapons, a huge blast of white wind shot out from the Trap Card. Laval Gunner planted its feet and tried to resist the sudden hurricane that appeared as even Hikaru, Ayumi and Yuushi were bracing themselves. After a while, the smaller golem's card on the battlefield was caught in the wind's updraft as Laval Gunner could no longer endure the force and was blown away back to Hikaru's hand.

"Since Ayumi did such a great job locking you down early on, I figured that I might as well throw in my efforts too. I know that Lavals get stronger with more of them in the graveyard and with Laval Warrior in your hand, you can capitalize on that strength by using Laval Gunner's effect. Besides, I can't let Ayumi's efforts go to waste," Ryoko concluded playfully as the card faded away.

Hikaru muttered to himself, "Forced Back, that card just..."

However, as he finished his sentence, he hastily moved onto the next phase of his turn, "Say Ryoko, I sure hope you wanted to get my attention because you definitely have it now. I still have one more monster on the field to attack you with! Laval Burner! Direct attack on Ryoko!"

The golem monster punched downwards sending its fist and metal gauntlet into the ground. The metal gauntlet rapidly heated up as flames shot out from the gauntlet and was released as a pillar of fire. The pillar made its way over to Ryoko before hitting her and exploding causing Ryoko to fly back. She quickly managed to get up though as she started to pant.

Hikaru- 3100 LP  
>Ryoko- 1900 LP<br>Yuushi- 4400 LP  
>Ayumi- 3000 LP<p>

"I'll just add this card facedown for a bit more firepower and then I'm going to end my turn," Hikaru added on with his third facedown on the field.

Yuushi was a bit surprised that he was now the only duelist who didn't get damaged yet. However, he was still a long way from winning the duel since he couldn't Synchro Summon thanks to Ayumi's Discord which she would likely use if a Tuner monster showed up and his hand made up of a single card wasn't exactly game-winning material. Additionally, having the most Life Points in a Battle Royal made it so you had an invisible bullseye on your back. Nonetheless, he didn't seem to mind since he was having a lot of fun just dueling with friends and he wasn't feeling pressured at all unlike in a tournament or in a duel where damage was real.

"_That Laval Gunner could have finished Ryoko if Hikaru activated it's effect and got four Lavals sent to the graveyard. I suppose Ryoko didn't want to take that risk," _Yuushi reasoned to himself.

"My turn," Ryoko said as she drew a card and revealed her facedown which was actually a Spell Card that was used as a bluff earlier on, "I play the Spell Card, Quill Pen of Gulldos. So now, I can send two Wind monsters in my graveyard to my deck and a card on the field to someone's hand. Yuushi, your Blast Magician is going right back to your hand!"

Yuushi didn't want to be left wide open at this point so he swung his arm as his facedown revealed itself, "Not so fast, I activate my Magic Drain Counter Trap. Unless you discard a Spell Card from your hand, your Quill Pen of Gulldos will be negated and then destroyed."

After shaking her head, Ryoko answered back and shrugged, "Guess I can't use my Spell Card then."

Even though Yuushi couldn't gain a Spell Counter since he negated Quill Pen of Gulldos and thus stopped it from activating and resolving, he felt that he gained a lot more than he lost. The Spell Card shattered as Yuushi sighed to himself with relief as Ryoko called out her next move, "Alright then. Next, I summon my Sonic Duck!"

From above the duelists, they heard a shriek as something started to swiftly descend down. The creature flapped its wings as it landed and kicked up a cloud of dust. Everyone noticed that the creature was a green yellow-beaked duck with a red scarf and a bucket on its head (ATK: 1700, Level 3)

"Go Sonic Duck, attack Warrior Lady of the Wasteland now!'

The Winged Beast monster took flight, folded its wings in and then dove downward as a coat of wind surrounded Sonic Duck. With a high speed dive, Sonic Duck pierced right through Warrior Lady of the Wasteland who disappeared in a white light as her sword hit the ground and Sonic Duck returned back to Ryoko.

Hikaru- 3100 LP  
>Ryoko- 1900 LP<br>Yuushi- 4400 LP  
>Ayumi- 2400 LP<p>

"Warrior Lady of the Wasteland isn't finished since she was destroyed in battle which lets me use her effect. I can special summon an Earth Warrior-type monster with 1500 or less ATK from my deck in faceup ATK mode...," Ayumi began as she grabbed her deck out of her Duel Disk and searched for a card, "...something like Amazoness Fighter."

As Ayumi placed the card on her Duel Disk, a large and muscular dark brown haired female fighter appeared. She was wearing a minimal amount of dark _turquoise _cloth and reinforced dark brown cloth armor with matching wristbands, knee guards and headband. Although wielding no weapons, her ferocity and training were indicated by the bandages wrapped around her fists (ATK: 1500, Level 4).

"Looks like we all have monsters again," observed Ryoko as a set card digitized behind Sonic Duck, "I'll just place this card down and end my turn."

Both the girls now had empty hands as Yuushi was the next duelist up, "It's my draw!"

Yuushi quickly looked over his two cards and realized that the next few turns would be more crucial. Everyone was running out of cards to use which meant that every play, decision and attack would be that much more important. Yuushi was no exception to having little options open as he found that he couldn't do much this turn except reinforce his defenses but his heart rate was increasing and he was getting nervous. He didn't need a machine to tell him that.

"During my standby phase, I'll just put this monster down and end my turn."

Unknown to the others, Yuushi had placed Apprentice Magician down and hoped that would hold for the time. While potentially using Apprentice Magician and Pitch-Black Power Stone to give Blast Magician two Spell Counters, right now it had little strategic purpose and would leave Yuushi open to attack and so he opted not to do it. Once again, Yuushi considered why Ayumi had Amazoness Fighter in her deck since she wasn't running an Amazoness Deck. The only conclusion he reached was that it was one of the cards she had on her and just stuck in her deck to give it some sort of flow and connection since it was a Warrior-type monster after all.

During that last turn, Mr. Sakudo had paid close attention to Yuushi's vital signs as well as any abnormalities. Nothing was too notable as Yuushi's father now took a look at the other duelists to see if anything had changed about them in this duel.

"My turn, draw," the dark brown haired girl stated. "I summon Exiled Force!"

On her command, a mercenary group of men and women with various kinds of weapons and armor emerged from a card. Despite their numbers, Ayumi only summoned one monster as the leader shouted and the mob all bellowed out in unison afterwards (ATK: 1000, Level 4).

With two Level 4 monsters, Ayumi could have XYZ summoned but did something different, "I'll use Exiled Force's effect which lets me tribute this card so that I can destroy a monster on the field. I'll destroy the strongest monster out now, Hikaru's Laval Burner!"

The mercenaries closed their eyes as they disappeared in a golden light which then fell on and surrounded Laval Burner. Soon enough, the golden light enveloped Laval Burner completely who then disappeared off the field as the light followed afterwards.

Hikaru was surprised but even more so that he was now the only duelist on the field with no monster. He took a glance at his facedown when Ayumi entered her Battle Phase.

"Amazoness Fighter! Direct attack!"

The amazoness lunged forward as Hikaru again took a glance at his facedown, _"I have the next turn and this card will stop me from taking 1500 points of damage. Though not at full strength, it'll be enough..."_

The Laval duelist was about to reveal his facedown, "I've been waiting for this! You guys better prepare yourselves since I'm going to turn up the heat! I activate Dustflame Blast! This awesome trap lets me remove from play all 'Laval' monsters in the graveyard and for each card removed this way, I can destroy that many cards on the field. I have four Lavals in my graveyard and so I'll destroy four cards on the field, namely Amazoness Warrior, Sonic Duck, Blast Magician and Yuushi's other facedown monster."

Before anything could happen though, Ryoko revealed her own Trap Card, "I activate my own card, Icarus Attack. Before I have a deep-fried duck, this card lets me tribute it to destroy two cards on the field. I'll take out your two facedowns Hikaru since your turn is coming up."

"Me, again?! Can't you destroy Ayumi's Discord or something," Hikaru said half-jokingly with a sigh as he removed from play Laval Coatl, Laval Magma Cannoneer, Laval Lady of the Burning Lake and Laval Burner.

A barrier of wind surrounded Sonic Duck as the Winged Beast cried out before disappearing as Ryoko grabbed the card off her Duel Disk and sent it to the graveyard. The two traps activated with a shining light as firstly, a flash of lightning followed by heavy winds started to pick up thanks to Icarus Attack. The four duelists and their monsters braced themselves and stood their ground as their hair and clothes started to rustle in the wind. Next, the battlefield was tinted red as a red-orange light emerged in the center of the battlefield before the whole area exploded in a red light. The explosion combined with the heavy winds blasted away all four duelists as the light engulfed the whole battlefield. As the dust, rock and wind settled from the devastating eruption of energy, all the monsters were destroyed in the blast thanks to Dustflame Blast and Hikaru's Spell and Trap Card Zone was empty. The casualties totaled to Yuushi's Apprentice Magician and Blast Magician, Ayumi's Amazoness Warrior, Ryoko's Sonic Duck and Hikaru's two facedowns which were Destruction Ring and Rush Recklessly.

The duelists were either blown back or on the ground as Yuushi's father was even blinded by the chaos that just ensued. Unbeknownst to all the duelists though, the Arcanite Magician card momentarily glowed for a brief moment which by now had faded away so the card appeared ordinary once more. However, the computer monitoring the duel picked up on this glow and transmitted the results to Mr. Sakudo's database. There was a spike of energy on the chart indicating that either Yuushi or Arcanite Magician was emitting a high amount of energy during that explosion which had subsided. The energy spike feel into a more stable pattern but was still at a much more heightened level than before.

In the aftermath of the explosion, Yuushi got up on one knee as the dust cloud started to settle. He coughed and looked around, "Everyone alright?!"

He got to his knees and saw the person to his left as the dust cloud faded. "Yeah, I'm alright. Ryoko, Hikaru, what about you?!" Ayumi said a bit concerned

Hearing another few coughs, Ryoko replied, "That was a bit messier than I thought it would be."

"It'll take more than that to keep me down," answered Hikaru enthusiastically though he was still a bit dizzy and tired.

The duelists slowly got back to their positions as Yuushi couldn't help but contain his excitement, "Looks like we're mostly back at square one again. This is well, I'll admit, it's exciting!"

Ayumi knew deep down what Yuushi meant as she smiled and chuckled, "Yeah, this is the sort of duel I want to have all the time. I end my turn then."

"Time to show you what I got!," Hikaru motioned as he drew another card, "Since everyone's wide open, there's nothing stopping me from doing a direct attack. I summon Laval Warrior!"

A blue light emerged from a card as once again, the golem with two magma axes sprung forth and prepared a charge knowing that an attack was going to take place next (ATK: 1800, Level 4).

"Yuushi, your Life Points seem a bit high so I think it's time they get lowered a bit. Laval Warrior, attack Yuushi directly!"

The warrior raised up its two axes and charged forward as the monster raised up its axe and swung downward on Yuushi. There was a white vertical mark indicating where it slashed as Yuushi staggered backwards but still remained on his feet.

Hikaru- 3100 LP  
>Ryoko- 1900 LP<br>Yuushi- 2600 LP  
>Ayumi- 2400 LP<p>

"I'll just put this facedown and that's it for me," said Hikaru while another card materialized on his field.

Ryoko was getting stirred up and drew her next card and took a peek at it and placed it onto her Duel Disk, "Here we go! I summon Mist Valley Shaman."

A rain of white-pink light spheres descended down before the group noticed a long blonde-haired female floating downwards with the spheres. The female appeared to be a human-bird hybrid as she had claws and feathers yet skin as well. Covering her body was black and white robes with feathers for decorative and spiritual purposes (ATK: 1200, Level 3 Tuner).

Without wasting much time, Ryoko pointed to Yuushi, "No offense Yuushi but with only Pitch-Black Power Stone on the field, you're the safest person to attack so here goes!"

After charging up a light in her palm, the shaman stuck out her palm and fired off a white-pink ray of magic that shot straight through Yuushi whose eyes bulged out for a moment but he quickly recovered.

Hikaru- 3100 LP  
>Ryoko- 1900 LP<br>Yuushi- 1400 LP  
>Ayumi- 2400 LP<p>

"_From having the most Life Points to having the least now...," _noted Yuushi after the last two Direct Attacks.

Things were getting tense as Ryoko looked at the others, "Turn end!"

Mr. Sakudo looked at his computer as he rapidly started to type data as he noticed that the readings from Arcanite Magician and Yuushi started to increase again but not as much as during the explosion from earlier. It was still worth noting though as he started to gather information from the others as well.

"Another turn, another draw," the Spellcaster duelist communicated to his friends and drew. His hand had two monsters, one of which was a card from a long while ago when he summoned Magical Exemplar. Though useful, it wouldn't shine in this moment so he played the monster he just drew, "I normal summon Breaker the Magical Warrior!"

The red and gold armored knight showed itself as its red cape fluttered in the wind. There were socketed gems attached onto areas of the monster's helmet, armor, shield and sword which the monster swung skillfully (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

Yuushi had kept track of Ayumi's Discord and knew where it was but decided to take out the other card, the one he had no idea about, "Just to reiterate, Breaker gains a Spell Counter if I successfully normal summon him and for each Spell Counter on Breaker, he gains 300 ATK (Breaker ATK: 1600+300= 1900 ATK, SC: 1). I activate the effect of my monster, Breaker the Magical Warrior. By removing a Spell Counter off him, I'll destroy a Spell or Trap Card on the field."

Yuushi pointed to Ayumi's right facedown down as Breaker's sword started to radiate a red aura before concentrating magical energy on the tip of the blade. With a battle cry, Breaker shot out a red crescent wave that sliced through Ayumi's card and destroyed it. The destroyed card was Synchro Ejection, another anti-Synchro card (Breaker ATK: 1900-300= 1600 ATK, SC: 0).

Before anyone could comment, Yuushi's Pitch-Black Power Stone started to glow, "Now I'll activate Pitch-Black Power Stone's effect which moves a Spell Counter from this card to another card such as Breaker (Power Stone SC: 2-1= 1) (Breaker ATK: 1600+300= 1900 ATK, SC: 0+1= 1)."

"_There's only one person left with no monsters to act as defense,"_ Ryoko noted to herself.

"Ayumi, I'm going to attack you directly with Breaker the Magical Warrior."

The magic knight charged up to the girl and swung down its blade quickly. The girl was knocked on her back but she eventually made it back to her feet.

Hikaru- 3100 LP  
>Ryoko- 1900 LP<br>Yuushi- 1400 LP  
>Ayumi- 500 LP<p>

Yuushi looked and was relieved that Ayumi didn't get too badly injured, "Turn end!"

"Guess I'm up," the dark browned hair girl regarded as she quickly placed her drawn card onto the field, "I summon Sacred Knight Joan!"

An illuminating silver cross of light lit up the battlefield and a woman wearing silver and gold armor was brought out of the light. The armor seemed regal as it shined with a radiant light matching the silver cross (ATK: 1900, Level 4).

"Ryoko, I'll attack your Mist Valley Shaman with Sacred Knight Joan. I might have considered another target but Sacred Knight Joan's effect activates! Joan doesn't exactly like to engage in battle so whenever she attacks, she loses 300 ATK," Ayumi quickly remarked as her voice softened during that last sentence.

With a sigh, Sacred Knight Joan charged up her power as her arms were covered in a silver glow (Joan ATK: 1900-300= 1600 ATK). With a horizontal and vertical swing intersecting each other, the two swipes formed a cross-shaped shot that was launched at Ryoko's monster who raised up a barrier of light to defend. Despite the weakened strength, the cross-shaped attack clashed into and shattered the barrier before going straight through Mist Valley Shaman who vanished into light.

Hikaru- 3100 LP  
>Ryoko- 1500 LP<br>Yuushi- 1400 LP  
>Ayumi- 500 LP<p>

"Since Sacred Knight Joan isn't attacking, her ATK returns to its original value (Joan ATK: 1600+300= 1900 ATK). By the way, it's your turn Hikaru," mentioned Ayumi.

"Draw!" Hikaru called out but then he waited a moment before starting his Main Phase, "I summon Laval Gunner!"

An array of light converged above a card as a smaller and thinner golem landed on the ground. Like before, Laval Gunner had its own suit of armor to act as its defense as well as two molten cannons attached to its wristguards acting as its offense (ATK: 1200, Level 4).

"Anybody want to send this guy to my hand?!," challenged Hikaru while looking around and remembering the other times he summoned Laval Gunner this duel. No facedowns except Ayumi's Discord and his own were on the field as he sighed with relief.

Ryoko giggled quietly, "Maybe one of us does."

The 16-year old male retorted back, "There better not be. I can't use either of my Laval monsters' effects since all my Lavals in the grave were removed from play by Dustflame Blast but that's alright. Ryoko, you're going to be the first duelist taken out of this Battle Royal since Laval Warrior attacks you directly!"

Laval Warrior pulled back its right arm before thrusting it forward and launching one of its axes made of magma at Ryoko. The thrown weapon rapidly spun in the air and was headed straight for her. Ryoko was scared of the attack despite knowing it was only Augmented Reality as she closed her eyes and turned away. The axe went through her body and crashed onto the ground as the girl fell backwards in defeat.

Hikaru- 3100 LP  
>Ryoko- 0 LP<br>Yuushi- 1400 LP  
>Ayumi- 500 LP<p>

"First one out," she said depressingly as she walked off to the side to observe.

Hikaru looked over to her, "If it means anything, I'll be taking everyone out so don't feel too bad. Now, during my second Main Phase, I overlay both my Level 4 Laval Warrior and Laval Gunner!"

The two Pyro-type monsters on Hikaru's field turned into two red streams of light that shot upwards before a shimmering white light opened up a portal in the center of the battlefield. The red streams of light circled around before being drawn into the portal.

"I build an overlay network with my two monsters! In the searing heat, a burning bond is forged! Flames that ignite the trailing winds! XYZ Summon! Come forth, Lavalval Chain!"

The portal exploded and left behind a light that flew over to Hikaru's field leaving behind a trail of fire. The light landed and took the form of a red dragon with armor. Its body had a combination of blue and molten black-red scales as the dragon roared and revealed two circling red orbs. Despite its appearance though, the monster was classified as a Sea Serpent (ATK: 1800, Rank 4, OU: 2).

Though impressed by the monster, Yuushi failed to see what that really accomplished and curiously wondered out loud, "Hikaru, you only have one monster on the field with 1800 ATK while you had two monsters on the field before and one of them even had 1800 ATK as well. Not only that but our two monsters both have 1900 ATK so it's weaker than ours."

"Not necessarily, it still has monster effects that are really useful, especially for a Laval deck," countered Ayumi.

"Yuushi, you should know what I'm going to do. Are you too tired from all this dueling today or something? But Ayumi's right, Lavalval Chain really does have a handy effect which I'll remind everyone of and activate by detaching one Overlay Unit. I choose to activate its first effect which lets me send a card from my deck to the grave."

Lavalval Chain roared as one of its red Overlay Units was consumed (OU: 1) and Hikaru pulled out a card from his deck and sent it to the graveyard slot of his Duel Disk. The next thing that happened was that the area on Hikaru's side of the field was consumed by flames as Lavalval Chain was set on fire though the monster seemed more than content (Chain ATK: 1800+300= 2100 ATK).

Shaking his head, Yuushi should have seen this coming since he had faced Hikaru a few times already and forgot one of his most common tactics, "Yeah, that's me just being an idiot. You sent Laval Phlogis to the graveyard which triggers its effect and allows all your faceup Lavals right now to gain a permanent 300 ATK."

"Glad that woke you up. You'd better pay attention or you'll be the next one out Yuushi," warned Hikaru. "I end my turn."

Looking at his deck, Yuushi realized that Hikaru was right. Everyone was so low on resources and available options that now was the time to make a move to win the game. The only problem was that the next move had better be a good one. Though the duel was getting to a critical juncture, Yuushi wasn't nervous but rather excited. It wasn't a duel with competitive pressure and it wasn't a duel where his body and potential life was on the life. Rather, it was a duel where he could let loose and have some fun. Not to say Yuushi couldn't be a competitive person but he felt relaxed with his friends in this duel. Since Ryoko was out of the duel, her turn was skipped.

"I draw!," he announced as he looked at the card he just drew and hesitated, _"I need to plan this out. I only have one shot at this."_

While Yuushi was thinking, the others looked around him and waited. A few seconds later, Yuushi had his plan ready and signalled his monster, "I activate Breaker the Magical Warrior's effect. Same thing as before. I remove a Spell Counter to destroy a Spell or Trap Card on the field. Hikaru, I target your set card."

Yuushi's monster concentrated magical energy from the Spell Counter to the tip of its blade before launching it out as a red crescent slash of energy that sliced straight through Hikaru's set card which turned out to be Destruct Potion (Breaker ATK: 1900-300= 1600 ATK, SC: 0).

"Thanks to Pitch-Black Power Stone, I can transfer its last Spell Counter over to Breaker. However, when Pitch-Black Power Stone is out of Spell Counters, this card automatically destroys itself."

The mysterious object transferred the last remnants of its remaining power to Breaker. However without any magical energy left, the Power Stone was unable to sustain itself as it started to crack before finally fragmenting into pieces which then dissolved into dust (Power Stone SC: 1-1= 0) (Breaker ATK: 1600+300= 1900 ATK, SC: 0+1= 1).

Ryoko was now standing by the wall as she watched the remainder of the duel, "Don't tell me that..."

"Breaker activates its effect for the last time. I'll target your facedown this time Ayumi."

"This won't be good...," Ayumi muttered to herself.

The Spellcaster monster shouted out and released another red crescent wave that slashed through the virtual card on the field. Like everyone had suspected, it was Discord, the Trap Card that was returned to Ayumi's hand from several turns ago (Breaker ATK: 1900-300= 1600 ATK, SC: 0).

With Discord gone, Yuushi decided to make his move, "I activate the Equip Spell, Synchro Boost and equip it to Breaker the Magical Warrior. This card increases the equipped monster's ATK by 500 and gives it 1 additional Level."

A small coat of blue electricity formed around Breaker as the monster raised up its sword triumphantly (Breaker ATK: 1600+500= 2100 ATK, Level: 4+1= 5).

Hikaru seemed surprised. While this certainly made Breaker one of the strongest monsters on the field right now, destroying Discord could only mean one thing, "Yuushi, did you actually draw a Tuner?"

Yuushi nodded as the others gasped, "That's correct. I normal summon Night's End Sorcerer!"

A card materialized on Yuushi's field as a young male teenager with grey-silver hair, long-sleeve robes, long pants and loafers leaped out. His dark blue-black cloak fluttered as the male raised up his scythe above his head with both arms (ATK: 1300, Level 2 Tuner).

As the Tuner appeared, Ryoko looked on, "There's only one card Yuushi will go for in a situation like this."

"I'm tuning my Level 5 Breaker the Magical Warrior to my Level 2 Night's End Sorcerer!"

Yuushi raised up his hand as Breaker dispersed into five shining lights and Night End's Sorcerer followed suit and turned into two green rings. The rings surrounded the lights as a much larger green light enveloped the rings.

"A magician matched only in the mythic era! The illuminating force from the cosmic legends! Synchro Summon! Appear, Arcanite Magician!"

As Yuushi placed the card onto the field, everyone noticed something strange. The card was glowing in a radiant light. At first everyone thought it was just AR Vision but none of the other cards seemed to have the same glow which caused some questions to stir. Even Yuushi's father took note as his machine started to send off weird signals and another spike of energy took place. This one was different than the others as Yuushi's ace monster took to the field. The scientist was dumbfounded and could only observe and take notes at this point to determine what was happening.

On the field, everyone looked on in awe as the card's light soon faded. Another light on the field sprung up as the blue magician made its presence known with a green magical circle beneath its feet. The aura this monster exuded was different than other cards as the others looked on in awe (ATK: 400, Level 7).

"Since Arcanite Magician was just Synchro Summoned to the field, this card gains two Spell Counters and 1000 ATK for each one!"

The magical circle below shot out a green light that reacted to Arcanite Magician's similarly colored green staff as the magician powered up (Arcanite ATK: 400+1000+100= 2400 ATK, SC: 2).

"I attack Lavalval Chain with Arcanite Magician! Starlight Horizon!"

As Yuushi announced his attack, the ace monster simply raised up its staff as another green light started to emit from the staff's tip. After reaching a peak of energy, green shockwaves shot out from the staff slicing straight through Lavalval Chain as the monster roared ferociously before digitizing off the field.

Hikaru- 2800 LP  
>Ryoko- 0 LP<br>Yuushi- 1400 LP  
>Ayumi- 500 LP<p>

With nothing left, there was only one thing Yuushi could do, "Turn end!"

Hikaru was puzzled at the last attack. Not because he thought that Yuushi would summon Arcanite Magician, but rather at the choice of attack. If Yuushi had used his 2400 ATK Arcanite Magician and attacked Ayumi's Sacred Knight Joan with 1900 ATK, that would have dealt the final 500 points of damage to her and would have resulted in taking her out of the duel. Then again, Hikaru realized that if Yuushi left Lavalval Chain on the field, he could use its effect again.

Ayumi didn't say anything and just drew a card which set her turn in motion. She looked at the card as her shoulders relaxed as she now knew the outcome of the duel. After a bit of pondering about Yuushi's last turn, she smiled to herself as she knew the reason why Yuushi didn't attack her. In her mind, she had hoped it was something more touching and sentimental but she realized that it was more than likely for a different, more pragmatic reason.

"Now I summon out Hayabusa Knight!"

Similar to Ryoko's cards, this warrior seemed to be a silver armored birdman covered in a mix of dark purple and white feathers. Furthermore, the armor had gold scales on certain areas like the shoulders and armguards and the bird warrior wielded a curved rapier in its hands, almost like a thin scimitar (ATK: 1000, Level 3).

"Hikaru, looks like you're the next one out. I'm going to do a Direct Attack with both my monsters!," the girl commanded.

The blue-black haired boy shook his head in confusion, "Unless my math is wrong which I sure hope it's not, the 1600 ATK from Joan after her effect and the 1000 ATK from your knight means I'll lose 2600 out of 2800 Life Points so I'm still in this."

"Hayabusa Knight can actually attack twice thanks to its monster effect. So if you have something to stop it, I'd recommend using it now," corrected Ayumi.

Hikaru couldn't believe what he heard as he slowly shook his head in disbelief before uttering one word to himself, "Damn."

Sacred Knight Joan reluctantly launched out its magical cross attack as indicating by her decrease in ATK (Joan ATK: 1900-300= 1600 ATK). The magic cross went straight through Hikaru leaving him kneeling down as Hayabusa Knight appeared straight in front him afterwards. Hikaru looked up and closed his eyes as two sonic swipes took place instantaneously as the boy just decided to stay kneeling and accept defeat. With those attacks launched, Hikaru lost a total of 3600 LP.

Hikaru- 0 LP  
>Ryoko- 0 LP<br>Yuushi- 1400 LP  
>Ayumi- 500 LP<p>

At this stage of the duel, Ayumi was completely out of resources. First of all, she had no cards in her hand, no facedowns or effects in the field, graveyard or the remove from play zones to protect herself. Secondly, her monsters were far weaker than Yuushi's own ace monster and lastly, she only had 500 LP to endure a turn with under those previous circumstances. All four duelists could see it as plainly as she could but Ayumi still smiled, despite wanting deep down for this duel to continue. The others hadn't seen her like this in quite some time as she seemed genuinely happy. Yuushi couldn't help but chuckle to himself too since his best friend was happy and he himself knew the feeling she had. Hikaru was at the side with Ryoko as they too seemed quite pleased.

Yuushi's father was busy with the latest readings of energy that just took place. These readings were especially strong as he was busy typing and comparing results.

The black-haired boy took in this moment and hesitated to continue but he knew that all things would eventually come to an end. With that though, there's always something new waiting as he started his turn with just a silent draw.

"Final battle! Arcanite Magician, end this duel and attack Hayabusa Knight!"

The Spellcaster prepared its Starlight Horizon attack as its staff was raised up shooting out two resounding waves of energy. Hayabusa Knight put its rapier in front to defend as the first wave was deflected off the blade but the rapier was sliced into pieces followed by a second wave that slashed the monster in half.

The final buzzer blared through the room as the duel came to a close.

Hikaru- 0 LP  
>Ryoko- 0 LP<br>Yuushi- 1400 LP- WIN  
>Ayumi- 0 LP<p>

Pieces of the background started to fade away as the AR Vision disappeared and returned the duelists back to the lab. The four gathered in the center to discuss what had happened as Mr. Sakudo leaned back on his chair, saved and locked his data on the computer and took a small break. After giving some time to the high schoolers, the adult walked downstairs to meet them all.

"That duel was pretty defensive," Yuushi commented.

Hikaru nodded, "That is until my Dustflame Blast and Ryoko's Icarus Attack shook things up."

Ryoko agreed, "Yeah, but things didn't go quite I way I had hoped."

The Laval duelist looked over to Yuushi, "Say Yuushi, at the end why didn't you attack Ayumi? Did you want to get my monster off the field to stop its effect?"

Yuushi was about to explain but Ayumi interrupted him, "Yuushi could have attacked me and defeated me but then he'd have to face you under bad conditions. You had a lot more Life Points and it would be your turn right after he finished attacking me. If you drew something like Offerings to the Doomed and destroyed Arcanite Magician, you could have directly attacked Yuushi with Lavalval Chain and won."

"However, I decided to go after you and leave your field open in hopes that Ayumi would be able to take you down with direct attacks. Since she only had 500 Life Points compared to your 3100 at the time, it would be much easier for me to face her afterwards, especially since I would start my turn right after her attack. She could have played defensively but there was the possibility of Arcanite Magician destroying her monsters on my next turn or your Lavals causing a burn effect as well," Yuushi added on to the explanation.

"Come to think of it, I would have had more Life Points if you didn't use Discord and left me open like that," Hikaru said a bit annoyed.

Ryoko sighed and looked at Ayumi, "I could have dealt 3100 damage with my Mist Valley Thunder Lord if someone didn't take my monster. Was anti-Synchro your plan?"

"Yeah. I thought about it when we learned about the first WRGP and the Synchro killers there. I knew you guys had Laval Stennon, Mist Valley Thunder Lord and Arcanite Magician which were all Synchro Monsters as your aces," Ayumi answered back.

There was still something Yuushi was curious about, "What about the Warrior cards then? And Grenosaurus?"

"Warriors are one of the more diverse and numerous types of monsters in the game so I chose them to back up my strategy. Grenosaurus and a few other cards though were sort of cards I used because there was nothing better for me to choose," she said sheepishly.

At this moment, everyone decided to take a break as Mr. Sakudo walked in. "That was a great duel everyone. I think I got just what I needed from that so I would like to thank you all personally."

Hikaru put his thumb up, "No problem, Doctor."

Mr. Sakudo's D-Pad started to ring as he opened it up and stared at the time before closing it again, "I'd better make arrangements for you to go back. Tomorrow's a school day and I'd rather not worry your parents by keeping you too late."

"Dad, are you going to drive us back?" the boy with the glasses asked.

The doctor rubbed his neck, "Actually, I still have a lot of work to do. Now I have to analyze the data and draw some sort of conclusion. Then I have to validate and test it out along with other things. But first I have to get a proper profile on everyone."

Ryoko yawned, "I forgot about school tomorrow. I should probably go to sleep a bit early then."

Hikaru gritted his teeth, "Yeah, I need to actually finish up some homework."

"How much is some?," Yuushi questioned after hearing the tone of Hikaru's voice.

"All of it," Hikaru responded back and chuckled slowly.

Mr. Sakudo looked at the others again, "I asked Dr. Hotake to take you guys back to Heartland City and your homes. He's actually almost done his analysis and he's going to grab a few things for us while he's out in the city so dropping you all off is just a slight detour for him."

Sure enough, Dr. Hotake walked into the room as everyone started to follow him. Yuushi wanted his dad to drive him back personally but it couldn't be helped as he quickly caught up to everyone.

They jumped into Dr. Hotake's van as they started to make their way back to Neo Domino City. Hikaru was already asleep with his head leaning against a window and Ryoko was more than likely about to join him as her head was on the back of the seat as she yawned. Looking out the window at the passing scenery and the moon, Ayumi was probably deep in thought which left Dr. Hotake focused on driving and Yuushi to think about things for himself as he stared at Ayumi.

"_I really don't understand why she doesn't use a completed deck. Even when we offer to help make a deck for Ayumi, she usually just brushes it off and says that it's something she'll do herself. She easily held her own against us and we were all finalists in the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament. I mean it's not a World Championship or anything but she just sort of threw that deck together. She had a strategy and a Warrior-based deck but she didn't really have any real power or synergy behind her cards. I just don't get it."_

As the car eventually dropped everyone off at their homes, Mr. Sakudo was still examining the data as he started to draw some conclusions.

"_Well, there have definitely been energy spikes throughout that duel coming from Yuushi or at least Arcanite Magician. My initial hypothesis that summoning Arcanite Magician would cause a spike has been proven correct although there are still a few spikes that are bothering me..."_

The doctor made some mental notes as he looked at the chart and saw that the moment Arcanite Magician was summoned, there was certainly a large shift in energy. There were a few other spikes of energy too as indicated on the chart but the largest spike of all took place right after Dustflame Blast and Icarus Attack went off. Arcanite Magician wasn't on the field at that time so Yuushi's father wondered what exactly caused that large spike of energy and why.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18 Preview<strong>

Ayumi: That was a great duel.

Yuushi: Yeah, but now we have to get back to class.

Hikaru: Did you hear about the Duel Monsters tournament that's coming up?

Ryoko: You mean the one that'll use Heartland City itself as the playing field?

Yuushi: ...That must be a really major event then.

Hikaru: I have to get ready for that. Chapter 18: The Avenger. I don't like the look of this...

* * *

><p><strong>Note: This chapter is a bit longer than the others. A Battle Royal takes a bit longer to plan and write out than I initially thought.<strong>


	19. Chapter 18: The Avenger

Despite Heartland City being one of the busiest and booming cities of the time, even the city would slow down during the hours where most were asleep and the sun was about to rise. News about the blank card/curtain incident was still on the rise as some people started to panic a bit. Regardless, the news was suppressed by the authorities and disguised as mere rumors in order to stop a potential panic throughout Heartland but some authorities were still uneasy as they retrieved another unconscious individual with blank cards. Some such as doctors shook their heads wondering how long this news could stay hidden for while evidence was beginning to pile up that stated that this string of unconscious individuals was not just rumor.

Not only were the authorities active at this time but a mysterious group of people with black cloaks were about to finish a meeting before sunrise and the unofficial start of the day. Hayato, the individual with the silver striped cloak had a chart displayed to the other three in the room which included an individual with a gold striped cloak and two with red striped cloaks.

One of the red striped cloaked individuals stood up as she slammed her hands on the table in anger, "Hayato, spit it out already! What are you trying to say?!"

Ignoring the outburst, Hayato shook his head and looked to the two red striped pair, "We are about 67% complete, just a bit more energy to siphon and our plan will be complete. I would like to thank you two for your work."

Despite the compliment, the female seemed agitated, "And what about your other find? The one when Norio dueled?!"

Bringing up another virtual chart, he further explained, "The duel results indicated that the opponent was Yuushi Sakudo and the card he held is similar to yours, Koji. Whatever he used gave off a lot of energy and..."

Suddenly, the male red striped individual stood up, "Yuushi Sakudo. I think he was a duelist at a recent tournament, the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament."

"What were you doing there, Jun?", Hayato asked shaking his head.

Jun went on as if he wasn't interrupted, "...to see what other more skilled and intense duelists were around and whether or not they were worth our time to siphon. I honestly thought that maybe the winner, Masaki Otobe might be worth it but Yuushi did play something I've never seen. He played an ace monster I've never heard of called Arcanite Magician though like I said Masaki won anyways."

The gold striped person known as Koji seemed a bit surprised but ignored it, "That's interesting. I've never heard of Arcanite Magician. Any other cards?"

"Seemed like a standard Spell Counter deck other than that," Jun shrugged.

Koji stood up and pulled out a card, "If his card is like mine, then I want you to trace it using the energy this card gives out as a template. Hayato, if your readings are right, then this Yuushi person should be well worth the time to track down and drain. Search the area around Delta Academy then! We must hurry though. The sooner we complete this phase of the plan, the better."

With that, Koji left while the others started to walk away as well.

A few hours later, the morning sun rose through the clouds as the Augmented Reality System covering Heartland was now busier than even as officials and litterbots were preparing for something grand. They were cleaning the streets and setting up devices all over the city.

* * *

><p>Another group of people who were half-awake at this hour was Yuushi's father and his team. These scientists on the outskirts of Heartland had been investigating Duel Spirits and other phenomenon for some time now. They were sitting at a circular table, each of them with computers and information with a dim green sphere in the center of the room.<p>

Dr. Hotake was sitting in a chair while data started to pop up on the screen followed by a golden sphere, "Almost done here. Cross-Section S35 Final Analysis almost complete. 95...96...97...98...99...done."

An image of Arcanite Magician popped up in the center as the dim green sphere moved to the right and another image of a box appeared. The dim green sphere folded outward until it was completely flat as the box surrounded the images on the display screen.

Mr. Sakudo had a large screen on his computer while several charts appeared as he overlapped them and looked at a second and third screen that appeared with numbers and lines flowing down, "So Arcanite Magician has a somewhat similar signature of energy to the energy of the curtain. It's not strong enough to make an accurate estimate of where it came from or what it is but the similarities in signatures are hard to deny. Arcanite Magician must have something to do with this curtain incident in some way or form."

"So are you saying Arcanite Magician is a denizen from this Duel Monsters Spirit World?", questioned Dr. Hotake.

"I'm not sure if Arcanite Magician is a spirit, but I think it's safe to assume two premises. One, the large quantity of energy radiated by Arcanite Magician is similar to the sample of the energy of the curtain or veil from the blank card incidents. Two, this energy is overlapping with our world and influencing certain duels which may or may not be causing damage to duelists," Yuushi's father calculated based on empirical evidence.

"So how is this overlap happening and why?" asked Dr, Hotake.

Yuushi's father closed his eyes and started to think, "Well, I still need to work on that. But I think we have enough data to update the searcher. Dr. Hotake, do you mind passing me yours?"

Dr. Hotake looked down at the aforementioned device which was already by his computer. This device was the same type used by Mr. Sakudo to track Yuushi down after his duel with Norio. The device was handheld and most people in Mr. Sakudo's team had a copy of it but one of Mr. Sakudo's duties was to improve upon it.

"How much do you think you can add on?", questioned Dr. Hotake who was a bit skeptical.

Yuushi's father sighed and looked back at his data, "I should be able to improve its radius and accuracy. It'll let us scan for the Iron Curtain easier at least."

The scientists nodded and they were now busier than ever as they attempted to follow up on this lead on the Spirit World and continue their research.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, a few more hours passed as school was, at this time, almost finished. Earlier in the day, Principal Tsubasa had mentioned over the speakers that there would be an assembly to explain a huge announcement which would affect not only every school in Heartland City, but even the city itself. To add on, he said that it was Duel Monsters related which definitely got students excited.<p>

In Classroom 1-D, Yuushi, Ayumi, Hikaru and many of their classmates were listening to Mr. Yamazaki who was lecturing on the properties of waves. Since this was the final period before the assembly, many students were starting to tune out as they were staring at the time on their D-Gazers and talking amongst themselves. Many were talking about what to do after the assembly as it was scheduled to be the last thing before classes were over for the day.

Mr. Yamazaki cleared his throat trying to grab the class's attention, "Now I know that we have an announcement soon but until then, I would like to get as far in this lecture as possible."

This class somewhat quieted down but the teacher couldn't exactly blame the students for their talking and whispering but he still continued his lesson, "Anyways, waves can travel around and through many mediums such as air, water and even things like walls. Depending on the medium of travel, waves can change in wavelength, direction and even..."

With that, Principal Tsubasa turned on the speakers and broadcast a message to the school, "Delta Academy, may I have your attention for a brief moment. Please go in an orderly manner with your homeroom teacher to the auditorium where a school-wide assembly will begin in a matter of moments."

After a stretch, Mr. Yamazaki went over to his desk and closed a textbook before the class lined up and everyone started to walk into the hallway. It was somewhat crowded as other classes were making their way to the auditorium as well. Hikaru made his way over to Yuushi and Ayumi who were talking to one another.

"Do you guys know what this is about?", Hikaru called out

"We were just talking about it. I don't really have any idea," replied Yuushi.

Ayumi was making sure not to bump into anyone, "No point in thinking too hard about it since we're going to find out soon."

Minutes later, Mr. Yamazaki's class had arrived at the large auditorium where many students and the teachers were already gathered. The teacher led his class towards their assigned area as the class eventually sat down along a row. Others were starting to pile in too as the auditorium was beginning to fill up and empty seats were being filled. Yuushi looked around and despite having been at Delta for some time now, he was still mildly surprised at all the students that went to the school. A few rows ahead was Class 1-A as Yuushi scanned the row and noticed Ryoko sitting down with her class. While he would normally greet her or at least wave, her back was turned and with the chattering in the auditorium, anything short of an extremely loud scream or shout would fail to reach her ears.

The lights were beginning to dim as Yuushi assumed that this assembly would start soon and there would more than likely be some sort of presentation involved, most likely using AR Vision for visual aid. Sure enough, the auditorium was nearly full as a spotlight went on to the center of the stage and Principal Tsubasa walked out. The chattering began to quiet down as the principal tapped a device in his collar with a following thud noise echoing throughout the auditorium.

After checking the miniature microphone attached to his collar, he looked around to make sure most students were quiet and paying attention before he cleared his throat and stepped forward, "I am Principal Tsubasa as I hope many of you would know by now. The reason for this assembly as you might know is something related to Duel Monsters and it affects the whole city which includes our school as well as many others."

Hikaru rolled his eyes and whispered, "Thanks for stating the obvious. Even I knew that already."

Principal Tsubasa started to walk off stage as a projection of a large virtual screen appeared in the center of the stage, "This event is actually so momentous for our fair city that all classes will be cancelled for a week as per the order of the mayor of Heartland City, Mr. Heartland himself!"

The murmuring and excitement increased since students just heard that they would have an extra week off school. Most people had seen Mr. Heartland on television a few times and Yuushi assumed that if the mayor himself was authorizing it, this event was certainly going to be special.

Before the commotion got too out of control, Principal Tsubasa made a final comment, "Actually, Mr. Heartland also sent this video to several schools as well as other residential and commercial districts in order to promote this event. And here it is!"

Someone on the side started the video as the virtual screen started to display light and everyone activated their D-Gazers. Confetti rained down and a fast-paced fanfare erupted in a wide variety of colors and sounds as the students were silently watching. The background turned into a sort of image resembling a rainbow spectrum of light shooting out from the cosmic reaches of the stars. The image of the planet appeared in the center as golden cards circled around the planet in two different directions. Finally, a red heart was placed on top of the planet as words appeared.

"WDC, World Duel Carnival," quietly read Yuushi who was stunned since he had not heard about this event at all, whether in the newspaper, television or online.

He wasn't the only one as the others were looking on in awe. The music slowed down as if to let the audience take in the majestic colors and atmosphere. From nowhere, a male adult with green hair wearing a flamboyant and flashy yellow long-sleeved suit and matching top hat and pants materialized on the screen. There was a red heart patterned in his top hat and suit. This person also had what seemed to be a collar of teal feathers and a red bowtie with yellow polka dots. Lastly, Yuushi noticed that he had red-framed glasses and was holding a rod with a red gem attached to the rod's tip. Most people would recognize this person at Mr. Heartland except in a different suit more acceptable for this presentation.

"Wh...What is he wearing? Why?," Yuushi said trying to say anything to his friends after seeing that costume. It left him bewildered and nearly speechless to say the least because Yuushi thought nobody would wear something like that in public, much less a public official in a public announcement. He looked down trying to suppress a chuckle but wanted to facepalm at the same time since his notion was proven wrong.

Ayumi shook her head and chuckled softly, "Well, you have to admit the suit grabs your attention. It sure got our attention right?"

Hikaru didn't seem to mind, "Hey, I wouldn't wear that but there's nothing wrong with it right?"

Yuushi stated silently in his mind after hearing the other two. _"I'm no fashion expert but 'Nothing wrong with it'. Really? Really?!"_

In any case, the image of Mr. Heartland opened his hands in an open manner before and began to speak, "Ladies and gentleman of the dueling world, I would like to introduce to you a grand event, an event that will be noted in Duel Monsters history. The biggest dueling contest, the World Duel Carnival!"

As soon as 'World Duel Carnival' was said, flashes of light and fireworks shot off in the background while everyone looked on in awe.

"Heartland City will host this grand Duel Monsters tournament with a spectacular array of thousands of duelists including pros from leagues, circuits, even those from overseas and champions from their countries all around the world have been invited. We spared no expense to make sure that this tournament will include the best of the best where the winner will be crowned Duel Champion!"

Hikaru wanted to shout out in excitement and could barely contain his excitement nodding and shaking with nervousness.

Mr. Heartland continued, "Furthermore, the winner will get a lifetime passport to Heartland City and another grand prize. Any wish or desire that the winner has, as long as it's within my power to fulfill, I will grant to it them!"

The chatter started to get louder and the projection of Mr. Heartland waved his rod, "Registration and more details will be available online in a few days. After registration, you will receive a Heart Piece which is your proof of being registered as well as your ticket your glory! Not only will Heartland City be more crowded for a few weeks to accommodate guests but in order to include the younger generation of duelists to participate, classes will be cancelled as well. I bet you students are especially excited now! Who knows, the winner may even be a child prodigy or shopkeeper or even an everyday worker! One thing though duelists, I want you to bring passion and fight, enough to light up Heartland City itself! Heart Burning!"

The mayor formed a heart shape using his thumbs and index fingers before a small explosion of red smoke ended the video as the lights in the auditorium slowly went back on.

Everyone was in an uproar and the racket was at its peak but Principal Tsubasa addressed the crowd one last time before the assembly concluded, "That exciting announcement from Mr. Heartland even has me fired up. Who knows, I might be Duel Champion. That concludes the assembly so everyone can go home now and for any participants, good luck to them," said Principal Tsubasa.

Students rushed out of the auditorium while quickly grabbing their notes, backpacks and other necessary materials in the lockers before running out of the school. The final bell rang as Yuushi, Ayumi and Hikaru had moved together despite the crowd. On the way out, Ryoko had separated from her class and was walking alongside the other three. Moments later, they exited the school doors and with the sound of traffic around them, Yuushi looked up at a passing monorail on his way home.

Hikaru told the others in a quick and excited tone, "This is the chance I've been waiting for. A huge, huge tournament like this. If I won, I'd be Duel Champion and on top of that even have a wish granted by Mr. Heartland. What should I wish for..."

"I wouldn't get too far ahead of yourself. If international pros are going to be invited, this is going to be a world-class tournament. You should probably get a few new strategies first," recommended Ayumi.

Ryoko looked at the two, "At least he's not short on confidence."

Yuushi was a bit skeptical about Hikaru suddenly becoming Duel Champion but encouraged him, "Confidence doesn't quite translate to success but it certainly doesn't hurt."

"Of course. If school really is off, we should probably meet up and get some practice in. I mean we've dueled each other a lot but the warm-up couldn't hurt. How about a bit of a bet to see who can be confirmed as a finalist first?," the excited blue-black haired boy said.

Yuushi grinned a bit, "I suppose it won't hurt or anything. I'll take that bet."

"Sure, you guys have a bet then," Ryoko added in.

The three were waiting for Ayumi's answer for a few moments. She sensed that the other three were staring at her as she breathed in once slowly, "Actually, I don't think I'll be taking part in the WDC. I mean it sounds really exciting and all but I think I'll pass."

"Ayumi, you're killing me out here. Why don't you want to participate? It's a once in a lifetime opportunity," Hikaru stated shaking his head.

The dark brown haired girl answered back, "It might be but it's just that I'm probably not going to participate."

"You have to be kidding me. I mean I didn't think twice after hearing this," responded Hikaru a bit annoyed now.

Yuushi was just observing the conversation as Ryoko interrupted them, "Hikaru does have a point Ayumi. It'll be fun and besides who knows who we'll bump into. We might even get a chance to duel an overseas pro! That'd definitely be great."

Hikaru rubbed his forehead trying to convince Ayumi, "Just at least try. At least have some faith that you can do it, have...some sort of something. I know you can do it. I've dueled you and I know that you'd be a great competitor. Come on, Ayumi."

"I'd really rather not...," the girl said back hesitantly.

Before things turned awkward, Yuushi stepped in, "If she doesn't want to, then we can't force her into it. I'm going to be in the Duel Carnival but if she doesn't want to, that's her choice."

Ryoko looked at Yuushi then Ayumi, "I know it is but why?"

"I will try to duel in something as big as the WDC eventually but not right now," Ayumi defensively told the others.

Hikaru sighed loudly, "But when will you duel in something this big again? I mean even you said it's a world-class tournament so chances like this don't come too often and when they do, you have to take it and run with it."

Ayumi got a bit tense but before she could answer back, Hikaru's D-Gazer started to ring as he took a look at it, "That's my mom. I'm going to just take this call really quickly."

Initially, Hikaru only wanted to answer the call on the sidewalk a bit away from his friends for some privacy but the ongoing traffic and beeping from the city environment was too loud so he moved to a more quiet alleyway instead.

"Ayumi. I'll be a honest as your friend, I personally think that you're a great duelist and that this would be a good opportunity for you if you want to participate. Win or lose," Yuushi said as bluntly as he could.

Ayumi got slightly nervous from Yuushi's compliment, "Thanks, that means a lot from you. If I do participate it'll be half-hearted and I'd rather not ruin the experience by going into something not even fully focused."

Ryoko chuckled at the two, "If you're determined to wait it out, then we'll support you in that."

At that moment, Hikaru emerged from the alleyway in a hurry, "I have to rush out now to pick up Natsumi. Dad's a bit sick so mom's taking care of him for a bit. Normally, my parents would trust Natsumi on her own but the curtain incident and rumors of the Numbers have really got them on edge. We're talking about this later and Ayumi, I'm making sure that you participate in the WDC."

Hikaru ran off in a different direction from the others as the other three continued on walking down the sidewalk on their original route.

* * *

><p>In another location, there was a meeting between the dark-cloaked individuals again. The meeting was basically over as everyone started to get up.<p>

"Alright, so the World Duel Carnival is coming up. Just remember that we are not going to participate in it at all nor target duelists currently in that tournament. We don't need Mr. Heartland or any officials realizing what we're up to. While it would certainly speed things up, the risk is too great and the chance of exposure is too high," Koji summarized to the others.

Hayato was the first to begin walking off, "Agreed. Now if you need me, I'll be keeping track of the energy we've drained off so far and making the necessary adjustments. Would someone mind checking the special weapon that's being prepared?"

The gold-striped person with the black cloak, Koji, walked to the back and looked inside a pool of water. Inside was two cards, both of them the exactly same and both of them were Spell Cards. He grinned and took them out as the female of the group was practically at the door by this time.

Koji looked at the two red-striped individuals, "After Hayato studied Arcanite Magician and devised a countermeasure, I think it would be in your best interest to take this card to hunt it down. We need to adjust your deck and..."

Before Koji could continue, the girl opened the door, "I'll do this myself. You said Arcanite Magician was around Delta Academy right? So if I just go there and drain its energy, that's all we need right?"

"Yes! But...," Jun started to say before the girl left leaving only the three males behind.

After shaking his head, Jun asked the others, "...I don't get why she doesn't just take the help?"

"She's just like that. We'll have to leave her to it. If she fails, it'll be her paying the price, not us," Koji stated as he retrieved one of the two Spell Cards from the box in the water and handed it over to Jun.

The cloaked girl started to make her way to the streets of Heartland City, "I don't care what sort of card he has prepared. At the end of the day it's my deck and that's all I need to hunt duelists. Arcanite Magician or not, as long as we complete the weapon, that's all that matters."

* * *

><p>Back on the outskirts of Heartland City, Mr. Sakudo and his team were placing the final touches in order to have an updated device to use. This device was used to find Yuushi, or more specifically the energy radiated from the so-called veil during the duel between Yuushi and Norio. The only problem was that the range of the device was far too limited. After getting some data on Arcanite Magician, Mr. Sakudo and his team felt confident that they could expand the range of the device using a combination of their information along with the satellites maintaining Augmented Reality across the world.<p>

"Maximum output increased and final program...installed. Launching system for testing now," Dr. Hotake said while hitting a button on his computer.

After some typing from the others, a large chart popped up and then a graph except the shape of the graph kept fluctuating before stabilizing a few moments later. Though the graph was still a bit unstable, their information connected to the AR Vision system in Heartland and a map appeared on Mr. Sakudo's computer. The map was displaying a huge area covered in a blue circle with the lab at the center of the circle. Inside the blue circle, Heartland City was covered by it as well, meaning that their tracking device had an effective range within Heartland City.

The group of scientists started to cheer and sigh with relief as Dr. Hotake took out the device and analyzed it more closely and Yuushi's father smiled before leaning back in his chair.

* * *

><p>An hour passed from the scientist's latest work as Hikaru picked up Natsumi and the two of them just got off the high-speed monorail and were heading back home. His little sister was a member of her school's art club which Hikaru knew pretty much nothing about. The two of them walked down the stairs and onto the street on their way home. By this time, it was night as the sun had mostly set and the lights of the city started to illuminate the streets.<p>

"So how was your art club?", Hikaru asked trying to start up a conversation.

The younger sister took a moment to think, "It was fun. We did some painting and the teacher even did some clay sculpting and made a rhino. I don't know how she did that but it was awesome. She used some water then some sort of spinning thing and then an oven of some sort and put in some marks herself for the rhino's skin"

Hikaru seemed puzzled, "No idea. Sounds old-fashioned to me."

Natsumi smiled, "But it still looked amazing. You should have seen it."

The two of them turned the corner as Hikaru wondered what sort of arts he had done recently. He did remember a little painting but his painting wasn't exactly impressive.

"As long as you had fun," he quickly said trying to cover up his inexperience.

"Of course. Next meeting, I think we're going to learn how to properly shade in drawings," the girl replied.

As Hikaru looked up, a female voice caught his attention, "Are you Hikaru Aoki? The runner-up at the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament. You were the spirited and energetic one right?"

Hikaru turned around and noticed a female with red hair that had a black streak running down the right side. She was also wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt and black jeans. Judging by height and appearance, she was about Hikaru's age or perhaps even a bit older than him. He didn't recognize her as a student at Delta so he wondered how she knew about him.

"_Probably a spectator who saw me duel."_

The boy felt slightly proud yet embarrassed that someone knew his name but he answered, "Yeah, I'm Hikaru. This is my sister Natsumi and you are..."

The red-haired girl looked at Natsumi then back at Hikaru, "I'm Shiho. I saw you duel and I was wondering if you could help me with my deck. I just want a quick opinion since you probably don't want to keep your sister waiting."

Natsumi seemed a bit confused, "If Hikaru is going to help, I can just go with him and..."

"Sorry but I'd rather not let anyone see my deck. It's sort of in really rough shape and well, it'd really be a let-down for you," interjected Shiho.

"_I really don't see what's so hard about asking for deck help. I mean, Shiho seems just fine with it",_ Hikaru thought to himself in reference to Ayumi before he spoke out loud, "That's alright. If she doesn't want others to see her deck, then I'll be the only one to take a peek. I'll be ten minutes at most. Just a quick look and then some quick advice. Do you mind waiting at that store over there?"

Hikaru pointed across the street and the girl saw the store in question. After a brief pause, Natsumi smiled, "Sure, no problem."

Taking out a wallet, Hikaru gave his little sister some money, "Buy something to eat and fool around a bit and before you know it I'll be back."

Natsumi took the money and made her way across the street where Hikaru and Shiho saw her enter the store.

"You seem to have a good sister. I really didn't want her to see my deck," admitted Shiho.

"It can't be that bad," Hikaru said trying to lighten the mood.

Shiho looked over to the nearby alley, "My home isn't that far from here. When we get there, just wait inside while I grab my deck."

Hikaru was curious as to what sort of deck she had, "Lead the way then."

The two entered the alleyway as they turned the corner. Hikaru could see the main street through the much narrower alleyways in the corners of his eye. The alley itself was in good condition for an alley but there were a lot more turns than Hikaru thought was typical of an alley.

A few minutes later, they turned another corner as Hikaru got concerned, "You know where you're going right? It's been about eight minutes already. After you grab your deck and I look at it and..."

Without any warning, Shiho suddenly stopped in the middle of an alleyway as Hikaru subsequently did too.

"We're here," the girl said in a different tone while turning around and facing Hikaru.

The blue-black haired boy looked around but could only see the sides of a few buildings and no doors or anything else indicating that a home was there. "I just see an alley. Where's your home?", questioned Hikaru.

"These alleys are connected to my home, the world of underground duels. A place where you had to fight or perish. Dreams have been shattered and lives have been broken down there. All you want to do was to get out, all you did was cling to that string of hope that one day everything would change. Then you realize that all you can depend on is yourself and your deck," she coldly replied.

Hikaru was puzzled, "Why are you telling me all this? Where's your deck?"

Shiho chuckled once, "Here's a sample of my deck. Iron Curtain activate!"

Before Hikaru could properly analyze what was happening, Shiho had sent a Spell Card straight to the graveyard as a light engulfed the alleyway. Hikaru was blinded but then he noticed a faint curtain in the background that encircled the two. Finally, the light disappeared but Hikaru and Shiho were in a dark blue-black space.

"Where are we?! What'd you do?!", Hikaru shouted in a bit of a panic.

The boy opened his D-Pad and tried to contact someone but he couldn't reach anyone. Then he realized that this space was similar to the one Yuushi described at the lab. Not only that but he saw the faint curtain which was what Mr. Sakudo had referred to as a gateway to the Duel Monsters Spirit World. If this wasn't just Augmented Reality Vision, Hikaru realized the trouble he was in.

"You just lured me out here, didn't you?! You tricked me!" yelled Hikaru angrily.

"If you want to survive in the underground, you need to do anything you can. I learned to be unforgiving. I learned to be remorseless. I was inspired by someone to use these talents to change the world, to avenge the wrongs I have seen...to be an avenger. Let me give you some beginner's advice," Shiho stated as she got her deck ready as if stalking her prey, "You'd better get serious or you'll regret it."

The Laval duelist had really wondered if he had just gotten into this situation. At first, he thought it was a dream but he wasn't waking up. If this was a duel like Yuushi had, it meant that damage could be real. There was also the possibility that loser of the duel could end up like Norio or some of the others in that coma or amnesia-like state. He didn't think that she was just saying that to intimidate him, it was a legitimate warning.

"Fine then. But after I win, you have some explaining to do," warned Hikaru.

The boy got his D-Pad and D-Gazer out like normal. On the other hand, Shiho had a circular black Duel Disk on her arm as her eyes seemed to glow momentarily. Upon closer inspection, her eyes had some sort of contact lens which seemed to function similarly to a D-Gazer.

"AR Vision, link completed," a female mechanical voice echoed throughout.

The two duelists both drew five cards and started things off.

"Duel!"

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Shiho- 4000 LP<p>

Shiho wasted no time as she started her turn, "I'll go first! Draw!"

She took a glance at her cards and grinned, "First, I set this monster in DEF mode. Furthermore, I'll put two set cards behind it and end my turn!"

First, a horizontal facedown monster materialized onto the field followed by two set cards in the Spell/Trap Zone immediately afterwards.

"Looks like you're the one who needs to get serious," retorted Hikaru trying to give himself a confidence boost in this crucial duel.

Adding a sixth card in his hand, Hikaru took a close look at what he had. It wasn't a bad hand by any means but there was just one problem. There wasn't a single Spell or Trap Card in his hand, just six monsters.

"_I won't be able to get really fired up using just these cards. Actually, wait...I think I can make something out of this. Hopefully her hand wasn't that great either,"_ the boy thought to himself.

"I summon Laval Magma Cannoneer!", announced Hikaru.

A large human in a high-powered blue suit came forth from a card. The suit had two large shoulder cannons made of some sort of rock connected to a mechanical pack on the back of the suit (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

Hikaru showed Shiho the Laval Volcano Handmaiden in his hand and explained, "Even without an attack, Laval Magma Cannoneer's effect lets me send a Fire monster from my hand to the grave to deal 500 damage to you!"

After sending the card to the graveyard, one of the cannons on the cannoneer started to radiate a red-orange glow as the pack finished charging. With a battle shout, the monster fired off a red-orange stream from its cannon at Shiho. The girl raised up her arm to defend herself as an explosion triggered on contact. The girl scowled slightly as Hikaru noticed that her arm was now somewhat bruised and red, similar to what had happened to Yuushi.

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Shiho- 3500 LP<p>

"Are you alright?!" Hikaru asked reflexively but realized that he probably shouldn't have asked.

Shiho grinned slightly, "To have someone like you worry about me, makes me sick."

That wasn't quite the answer Hikaru had hoped for but with a question like that in this situation, he sort of expected a hostile answer. Although it was still Hikaru's turn and he was about to enter the Battle Phase, a lot of questions raced through his mind that he wanted answered. Who exactly was she? Why did she want to duel? How much did she know about this curtain and where exactly were they? What did she mean by "Avenger"?

The boy shook his head and contemplated to himself, _"I guess there's only one way to find out and that's to win this thing."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19 Preview<strong>

Hikaru: The damage in this battle is getting worse and worse. I just need to hold out, just a bit longer and then...I'll turn this around in one blazing move of glory!

Hikaru: Shiho, you owe me some answers. Chapter 19: Nightfall.

Hikaru: There, I've done it! Wait, this thing I'm seeing...it's part of my past...

* * *

><p><strong>Note: After doing some research and investigating a few sources, I'm going to correct something that has been bothering me for some time. From this point on in this fanfic, I'll use the correct term "Xyz" as opposed to "XYZ" that I had been doing previously. So it will be "Xyz Monster", "Xyz Summon", etc.<strong>


	20. Chapter 19: Nightfall

At a nearby store in the real world, Natsumi was sitting down in a chair with some round candies in her hands. Though the candy was sweet and tasty, she was staring out the window and sighed to herself.

"Are you waiting for someone?," an elderly woman asked.

Natsumi looked at her, "Sort of. My brother said he'd be back soon but soon is pretty much now and he's not back yet."

The woman chuckled a bit, "Maybe he got caught up in something. I'm sure he'll be here soon."

"Yeah. For sure," replied Natsumi with a smile.

However, in reality, she was a bit worried about Hikaru since she had thought that she saw some sort of veil in the direction Hikaru and Shiho went in. It wasn't there for very long and was fairly transparent so Natsumi had brushed it off as a figment of her imagination. After sitting down, she opened up her D-Pad and tried to contact Hikaru but the only message she got was the automated 'Unable to contact'.

"_Something isn't right here." _the young girl thought to herself as she finished the last piece of candy and headed out.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the Iron Curtain, the alternate space in-between the real world and the Spirit World, two people have started a duel. It was Hikaru's turn currently as he was about to enter the Battle Phase. On his field stands a lone Laval Magma Cannoneer with 1700 ATK. On Shiho's side, she had one facedown defense monster and two set cards behind it. In this blue-black space, Hikaru felt a bit uneasy as he gritted his teeth.<p>

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Shiho- 3500 LP<p>

"I don't know what you're thinking but there's no way I'm going to lose here...wherever here is," Hikaru added on.

He pointed to the set monster, "I attack your monster then!"

Hikaru's monster took aim and started to charge up power. The cannons on its shoulders slowly became more orange-red as the charge finished up. With a searing wave, two fireballs from the cannons were launched in sequence as the fireballs were about to collide with the card. Shiho's card was flipped over and a humanoid golem covered in black flames emerged (DEF: 1200). The monster had its arms in front to block but the fireballs went through the golem of black flames and destroyed it.

"Since my monster was in defense mode, your attack dealt no damage," Shiho quickly stated.

"That's one less monster for you though. Turn end!" countered Hikaru as he looked on with worry as he'd never seen a monster like that before.

The third turn of the duel started as Shiho reached for her deck,"My turn, draw!"

She raised up a card, "My monster's destruction last turn sets me up for another card. Since you destroyed my Nemesis Sentinel last turn in battle, I can Special Summon Nemesis Knight this turn in its place!"

After a flash of light, a black armored knight emerged and drew out its black longsword. The knight was completely covered in armor but had a dark red radiance around the creature's visor and its eyes started to glow red as well (ATK: 1200, Level 3).

"Now I activate my knight's effect. By tributing it right now, I can draw a card from my deck and inflict 400 damage to you!"

The knight's red aura started to get stronger and stronger until the monster itself transformed into a red sphere of light. Hikaru took a step back as the sphere launched itself at him causing an explosion upon collision. The boy tried to defend himself as he screamed and was blasted onto his back. Despite the attack dealing some real damage, his arm wasn't too badly injured at this point.

Hikaru- 3600 LP  
>Shiho- 3500 LP<p>

After drawing her card, Shiho swung her arm an revealed one of her set traps, "Furthermore, I activate the Trap Card, Vengeance Cry. My Nemesis Knight returns to the field from the graveyard with 400 additional ATK but I have to give up 800 of my Life Points. He returns once more to battle!"

A foreboding pulse was sent through the battlefield as Hikaru heard a sinister shout. A temporary black card appeared on the field as the same dark knight reappeared as he gave off another battle cry that seemingly was directed at Hikaru (ATK: 1200+400= 1600 ATK, Level 3)

Hikaru- 3600 LP  
>Shiho- 2700 LP<p>

"Next, I summon Nemesis Minotaur."

On her command, a red minotaur with large black horns and a large two-handed black hammer appeared and bellowed out a threatening roar. With a swing, the monster slammed its hammer into the ground once as a shockwave caused Hikaru to slide back a bit (ATK: 1800, Level 4).

"Go Nemesis Minotaur, swing down your might on Laval Magma Cannoneer!", the red-haired girl ordered.

The minotaur charged out towards Hikaru as its footsteps made rapid and deep thuds in the ground. Hikaru's monster intercepted the monster on its way over as the minotaur swung down on the monster. Though Laval Magma Cannoneer tried to defend, the hammer was completely flattened the monster only leaving a small crater behind. The dust from the attack covered Hikaru who tried to block the wave of dust as he mildly coughed.

Hikaru- 3500 LP  
>Shiho- 2700 LP<p>

"My minotaur's effect activates! When it damages my opponent, I draw the top card of my deck and if it's a 'Nemesis' monster, I can add it to my hand. Hah!"

After her explanation, Shiho drew a card and looked at it, "Consider yourself lucky. It was Dark Bribe which means that it goes to the bottom of my deck now. But I'm not finished yet! Nemesis Knight, direct attack!"

The knight leaped upward, easily reaching a few stories into the air as he pulled out his sword. With no monsters, Hikaru panicked and defended himself as the monster quickly descended. A slicing pain went through his body as he screamed as his arm received a cut from the monster's blade. Though not deadly, some blood was still flowing out as Hikaru endured the pain and momentarily held out his arm and scowled in pain as the knight retreated back onto its side of the field.

Hikaru- 1900 LP  
>Shiho- 2700 LP<p>

"_This damage...if I don't end this soon, I might not be the only one in danger but Shiho as well...After all I still have things to ask her afterwards,"_ Hikaru reasoned out in his mind after being somewhat frazzled.

Shiho looked on, "That's just a taste of the life in a high-stakes underground duel. My turn ends! Don't worry, it'll all be over soon. Just for your sister, I'll end this fast."

Hikaru wasn't quite sure what Shiho had to prove or what she could gain from all this but he started things off, "My turn. Draw!"

He looked at the card quickly and smiled, "Well, you got one thing right at least. It'll be over soon since I have to get back to Natsumi quickly like I promised. So just wait a bit longer, sis."

"You really care about her don't you? Must be nice," the girl smirked back casually.

Hikaru was curious despite the current situation, "Yeah, Natsumi is pretty cool."

"I wanted to spare her the sight of all this. The ugliness, the truth, the reality of life that I learned in the underground and then Nightfall took me in. But you'll see that firsthand," Shiho said angrily.

"Nightfall?", Hikaru asked in confusion upon hearing the word.

"Natsumi reminds me of someone I knew so I'll give you some free information for now. Nightfall is the name of our group, the one that will bring about a new revolution and usher in a new era of dueling! We are the ones who will avenge the wrongs of this world!," shouted Shiho zealously.

After hearing this information, Hikaru tried to contact someone but now it seemed that his D-Pad was completely malfunctioning in this world. The only thing that seemed to work was the D-Gazer and the Duel Disk.

Shiho noticed, "Don't bother. There won't be any evidence of anything anyways because after you lose this duel, you'll be in a coma-induced state like everyone else and wake up losing a lot more memories than just this duel. That's the real reason I told you this since it won't matter in the end."

The boy shook his head and refocused on the duel, "That's only if you win though and I don't plan on having my flames extinguished so easily. This turn should change things around. I can Special Summon Spirit of Flames by removing a Fire monster in my grave from play. Spirit of Flames, show yourself!"

After grabbing Laval Volcano Handmaiden from the graveyard and removing it from play, the male duelist slammed his monster onto the Duel Dusk. A cloud of steam covered Hikaru's side of the field followed by a wall of fire as a humanoid made of flames was spotted in the center of the flames. With a wave of its hand, the fire wall dispersed as the humanoid roared (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

Now the key part of his turn was coming up as he started to get excited and revealed a card which started to shine, "I summon Laval Cannon!"

The card materialized on the field and a blue-skinned, bulky and somewhat metal humanoid emerged from the card. Attached to its left hand was a massive metal cannon so large that the humanoid needed to use its other hand just to aim and lift the weapon (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

Shiho didn't seemed too impressed and grinned, "So what, you really think those two cards will win the duel for you?"

"I have more than just two monsters. When Laval Cannon is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon one of my removed from play 'Laval' monsters and since I only have one, I'll summon her to help me out!" yelled Hikaru.

Another light emerged on Hikaru's field as a female fire sprite with flaming orange-red hair and a blue metallic dress sprung forth. She raised up a finger as a small fireball was literally on the tip of her fingers (ATK: 100, Level 1 Tuner).

"Don't worry, I'll have two monsters but just not the ones from the start of the turn," Hikaru mentioned while raising his arm, "Now I'll tune my Laval Volcano Handmaiden with my Laval Cannon!"

Laval Volcano Handmaiden raised up her hands and turned into one green ring as Laval Cannon disappeared and left four shining orbs as the ring surrounded the orbs.

"Let's heat things up! Synchro Summon, Laval Dual Slasher!"

A card appeared and after a shout, a red-orange and black warrior leaped up in the air before doing a flip and landing on Hikaru's side of the field. On the arms and chest of the warrior, there were engraved metallic disks with the picture of a flame carved into the disks (ATK: 2400, Level 5).

The Laval duelist grabbed his deck, "Since Laval Volcano Handmaiden was sent to the grave and another 'Laval' monster was there already, I can send another 'Laval' like Laval Phlogis from my deck to the grave."

After a quick search, Hikaru found Laval Phlogis in the middle of his deck and sent the card to the graveyard. His deck went back to its slot as the Duel Disk automatically shuffled the deck. Nearby, Hikaru's graveyard shot out a virtual pillar of flame indicating that another effect was taking place as Shiho looked on with interest. Laval Dual Slasher was set on fire as well as the monster roared loudly and its power was boosted by the flames (Slasher ATK: 2400+300= 2700 ATK).

With a grin, Hikaru smiled, "Glad you noticed. When Laval Phlogis is sent to the grave, my Dual Slasher gains a nice 300 ATK boost. I'm not done though!"

After pointing his finger at the minotaur, he declared a battle, "Go, Laval Dual Slasher!"

Looking at Shiho's minotaur, the warrior dashed in as the blades pointing out from its elbows were suddenly covered in searing flames. Laval Dual Slasher was almost in striking range as it pulled back its arm.

The girl grinned deviously, "Did you really think that just summoning a high ATK monster will help you?! I reveal my Trap Card, Chaos Burst!"

The ground started to shake and crack violently as Hikaru had trouble maintaining his balance though Shiho didn't really seem to mind. Nemesis Knight suddenly jumped in front of Nemesis Minotaur who leaped back. The knight and the Synchro monster clashed in a deadlock with neither budging. Laval Dual Slasher overwhelmed Nemesis Knight but shortly after, the ground shook again forming a fissure which completely engulfed both monsters in a sudden motion. The Laval duelist fell on his back after a second quake.

"What just happened? Where are our two monsters?!" Hikaru demanded loudly.

"For me to survive in this duel, a sacrifice had to me made. Chaos Burst lets me tribute a monster when you attack me and this card lets me destroy the attacker. But you'll pay for ordering such a reckless attack. After your monster is destroyed, you take 1000 damage," replied the girl with a direct gaze.

Hikaru barely got onto his feet again when the ground started to shake again and the Trap Card began to glow with an orange-yellow aura. This quake was more violent than the last but the boy managed to stand his ground. Nonetheless, a fiery explosion of orange-yellow light triggered below his feet as the boy felt a large blast of pain hit his whole body at once. The pain was indescribable but it was certainly real as his left arm was practically numb and his legs were aching as his legs collapsed, leaving him facedown on the ground.

Hikaru- 900 LP  
>Shiho- 2700 LP<p>

"You done?", Shiho asked coldly.

The exhaustion was getting to Hikaru but he composed himself and got up, "Not...yet. I still have another attack. Spirit of Flames attacks Nemesis Minotaur!"

Shiho looked at him, "Your monster has less ATK than mine. My minotaur will destroy your monster easily."

Sure enough, the 1800 ATK of Nemesis Minotaur was higher than the 1700 ATK of Spirit of Flames but Hikaru continued, "My monster has an effect you should know about. During my Battle Phase, this card gains 300 ATK making it stronger than your monster now.

Steam started to surround Spirit of Flame as it ignited its body, giving off more energy than before (Spirit ATK: 1700+300= 2000 ATK). The fiery monster put out both its hands as a flaming projectile started to form and was launched out several moments later. The blast hit Nemesis Miotaur who was incinerated as the flames continued past. Shiho put out her hands to defend as the flames passed by and seared a bit of her skin as now her arms were starting to turn red from the heat. A drop of sweat fell from her forehead as she lowered her guard again.

Hikaru- 900 LP  
>Shiho- 2500 LP<p>

"How was that? My turn's over!", announced Hikaru looking at his hand which had no Spell or Trap Cards available.

* * *

><p>Back at Heartland City, Natsumi was walking around the area where she saw the curtain. She was sticking to the main streets and peeking her head in. Several people walked by her on the sidewalk as the young girl opened her D-Pad and saw that she still couldn't contact Hikaru and his signal wasn't anyone on the virtual map.<p>

"_Hikaru...what happened? This better not be some sort of joke or something..."_

The girl crossed the street and looked in another alley. She couldn't find a trace of Hikaru or Shiho or anything there. She shook her head as her heart started to get heavy with worry as she clasped her hands in a small prayer.

"_It'll be alright. I just have to believe in him."_

* * *

><p>"Draw!", Shiho yelled out starting the fifth turn of the duel in the Iron Curtain. She looked at her hand which now had four cards in it. Unlike Hikaru, she did have a Spell Card in her hand but for the time it wasn't much use. After a quick look, she decided that she could only do one thing, "I summon Nemesis Brute!"<p>

The card materialized onto her side of the field the ground started to shake and crack as more fissures started to form. A large red-black humanoid berserker leaped through the ground and into the air. The massive figure landed causing a minor tremor as the creature roared savagely with a crazed grin (ATK: 1800, Level 4)

"Attack Spirit of Flames now! Your monster doesn't get that attack boost during my turn so my monster will crush it," she explained.

The large creature planted its fists into the ground before picking up a large chunk of the ground and throwing it at Spirit of Flames. Hikaru knew she was right as he covered his face from the upcoming impact. The large piece of the ground collided with Spirit of Flames who was destroyed. The chunk split into several rock shards which bombarded Hikaru. Though he blocked, the shards started to cut his arms and legs as a large piece knocked him onto the ground.

Hikaru- 800 LP  
>Shiho- 2500 LP<p>

Shiho looked at him coldly, "You had enough yet? You should give up. Simply put, you can't beat me and you won't even remember any of this anyways after you lose so what purpose do you have for continuing on?"

It took a few moments but Hikaru struggled and got back up again to answer the question, "I have people who depend on me. I'm not going to give up that easily! No Duel Champion ever gives in like that!"

After another stumble, Shiho could tell that Hikaru was in much worse shape than her. She had seen damage like this in the underground dueling world but something was different this time, "Duel Champion? That's pretty selfish. Just aiming for money and glory. Let's see just how far that has gotten you so far."

Hikaru had no idea what she meant, "What do you mean seeing how far it's gotten me?"

The girl stared at him intensely, "I'll let you in on another tip. You know about the curtain incidents I'm sure and the induced coma-like state along with the blank cards."

"What about them," the boy snapped back.

"You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago in a situation like yours. I feel pretty bad for you so consider this a pity tip. There's a reason I wanted to duel you and it has to do with what I've heard about your spirit in the tournament," the girl added on. "This Iron Curtain is a sort of energy siphoning field requiring duelists for fuel. Not only of this age but duelists of the past have many reasons for dueling and what sort of spirit they put into each duel. Whether it be a will to survive or battle, the need to improve themselves and succeed or even for the passion of the game, every duelist puts energy in. Ace cards are especially applicable as the duelist will put more of their pride and spirit into the card they believe and value most about themselves as a duelist. It's like the duelist's symbol or mark in a sort of strange fashion. This mass amount of energy is what our group, Nightfall, is interested in and what will open the door to a new era of change."

The Laval duelist didn't make any comments since honestly, Hikaru felt that speech was a bit boring but he heard the last part of that statement and was outrage, "So you're draining the duelist's spirit energy, what the hell can you accomplish doing something like that?!"

Shiho completely disregarded that outburst as her graveyard started to glow, "Nothing you or anyone else could understand. But there's something else that's interesting. The higher-up members of Nightfall have special cards that allow us to monitor and see what sort of energy we're draining and how much. No matter who the duelist is, we can see their drive and passion and what sort of energy they possess as well as where it's coming from. The loser of the duel has their energy drained completely leaving no memory of this duel and perhaps other duels as well."

After that strange explanation, Hikaru still couldn't quite believe what he was hearing, "But if you lose then the same thing applies to you. Wait, just...!"

Before he could continue, Shiho's graveyard illuminated the area blinding both duelists as the Iron Curtain was draining both duelists' energy as the light faded away and Hikaru could see a glimpse of something. The blue-black background of the Iron Curtain was gone and he was taken to a familiar time and place.

* * *

><p>Now he was in the living room of his home as he saw a much younger version of himself and Natsumi, maybe about eight years ago or so. The younger Hikaru had reached into his backpack and pulled out a paper which he received a 'C' grade on as well as another test which he also got a 'C' on. His mother was taking care of the two when suddenly their father entered the house. He was heavily exhausted as Hikaru's mother ran up to him.<p>

"How was work today?" the mother asked.

The man almost practically fell into a nearby chair as he pulled out a Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys card and grinned before explaining in paused breaths, "It took so long. It took so much finding and work. But finally I was able to do it..."

The younger boy took a closer look at the card and noticed that it was signed by a famous pro duelist as his father continued, "My father had to sell this card so that our family could pay off its debts. After so much effort to track it down and effort to buy his treasure back I..."

In mid-explanation, the man's head snapped back as his body collapsed on the ground as the family members gasped in horror.

Eventually, Hikaru's father was hospitalized as the family went to visit him in Heartland Hospital. No one said anything since they were too depressed to comment and was heavily worried about his unfortunate state of events.

There was a doctor in the room who looked up to the family, "The good news is that this man is still alive. However, he is not in good shape physically. His muscles are tense and he's quite shaky but the worst of all is his lungs. Even if he recovers, his immune system and lungs have been weakened extremely badly and more than likely have suffered permanent damage."

The family was crushed by the news as the doctor was about to head out the door, "I have other patients to attend to but I'll return. If you have any questions or concerns when I come back, feel free to let me know."

Unexpectedly, another flash of light triggered another of Hikaru's memories. This one was also in the past but around four years after that incident. By this time, his father could still work but was making less money and every once in a while would need medical attention so it fell upon his mother to work as well as take care of both Hikaru and Natsumi. Even though Hikaru's father was getting sick once in a while, he was still happy to have that treasured card back. Money soon became a pressing issue with increased medical expenditures but with his mother and father's salaries combined, the family could barely maintain their current lifestyle.

After returning home again, Hikaru dumped his backpack in his room and looked at the papers on his desk. 'B' and 'C' graded papers were everywhere as the boy sighed with disappointment. Natsumi wasn't home yet and his father was in the hospital again and his mother went to visit leaving him as the only one home. He was depressed staring at those grades and crumpled onto his bed.

"_With grades like this, how will I be able to get a decent job. Who wants to hire some 'B' or 'C' average guy for a large salary? I try to study but nothing's getting through! If my parents get older, they'll need to rely more and more on me to support them."_

The boy rolled to the side and saw a framed picture of his family of four under the sun at the beach smiling away as if nothing were wrong. That smile was something Hikaru wanted to preserve but knew he couldn't do it with the way things were going. Beside that though was his Laval deck. Hikaru wasn't in the mood to do any homework as he took his deck and went outside to the park.

"I summon Laval Dragon!"

"I summon Laval Stennon!"

A few hours after, he had defeated several duelists his age and maybe a few older ones as one of the older ones walked up to him, "Wow, you're sure good. Maybe you could be a professional duelist some day and climb to the top!"

The words 'professional duelist' was certainly something he had heard of. Any duelist has heard of the pro duelists and that's when an idea dawned on him. Hikaru certainly liked dueling and he had won many duels but he had never thought of being a pro.

"_Many famous duelists I bet make lots of money. I mean they have transportation, get invited to fancy parties, travel the world, are featured on television and the internet. Hey, it's even fun!"_

There were a few more images that were projected. One image showed Hikaru organizing a deck and winning a tournament. Another showed him losing but smiling that he was being recognized by the audience. A third one showed him looking at the television with two pros dueling.

All in all, he thought about one thing, _"I will succeed. I will be a professional duelist and I will help my family! I have to! I will be Duel Champion!"_

* * *

><p>Instead of another memory, Hikaru realized they were back at the Iron Curtain as Shiho looked on astonished, "So that's where you're getting this spirit from...that's why you want to be Duel Champion."<p>

Feeling re-energized, the Laval duelist continued, "I don't know what you saw but there's no way I'm losing!"

Hikaru quickly drew his next card, added it to his hand and started his turn, _"This should definitely __burn through that monster."_

"I use the Quick-Play Spell, Searing Fire Wall! This card lets me remove from play four 'Lavals' in my grave and then I can Special Summon just as many Laval Tokens to my side of the field in DEF mode."

The field was then separated by a wall of fire which burned for a couple of moments. Immediately after the fire faded, four small sprites completely made of fire appeared on Hikaru's side of the field as the boy smiled eagerly (DEF: 0, Level 1).

Four out of five Lavals in Hikaru's graveyard were removed from play as the boy showed another card, "I summon Laval Lady of the Burning Lake!"

His monster card digitized onto the field in between the four Laval Tokens as a young girl with red-orange long hair and a blue dress appeared. She looked on somewhat worried but nevertheless stood with her allies (ATK: 200, Level 3).

The heat started to get to Hikaru as he started to sweat but this was the moment he had been waiting for and couldn't help but feel excited despite his current situation. His Monster Card Zone was completely filled as he pointed upwards.

"I'm tuning my Laval Lady of the Burning Lake to all four of my Laval Tokens!"

The female sprite faded and turned into three rings as the four Token monsters each transformed into an orb of light totalling four lights as the three rings surrounded the orbs.

"In the molten volcano, a roar which cannot be silenced! Flames which swell in the heart of fire! Synchro Summon! Laval Stennon!"

A bright light struck down as the ground started to shake again. A shadow was seen in the light which disappeared and revealed Hikaru's ace monster. The black golem-like creature made its presence known by its large size and modified armor. It had spikes attached to its back as well as a large cannon and gauntlets on its arm. The gold rings attached to the monster served to reinforce its defense and the monster took a step forward rumbling the space around it (ATK: 2700, Level 7).

Hikaru sent Laval Judgment Lord from his hand to the graveyard as he pointed out his reason for doing so, "When this monster is Synchro Summoned, I have to send a card from my hand to grave but that's fine with me."

Shiho took caution against that monster as she took a step back.

"No matter the challenge. No matter what you or anyone sets in front of me. All of it will be incinerated by my burning spirit! That's my goal and that's the dream that will become reality! Go! Laval Stennon! Molten Cannon!"

On his command, Laval Stennon took aim at Nemesis Brute with its arm cannon. The large creature made for an easy target as an orange-red beam of light was shot out and quickly struck the monster engulfing it in the attack. Soon enough, the beam vaporized the monster as it continued onto Shiho. The attack connected and triggered an explosion that sent Shiho flying backwards.

Hikaru- 800 LP  
>Shiho- 1600 LP<p>

Through the smoke, Hikaru could see that Shiho had recovered but was holding one of her arms. Both duelists were injured but then she stood back up. On the Nemesis duelist's arm, Hikaru noticed something on her skin. Her blue-sleeved shirt had lost one of its sleeves and on that arm he saw a large scar on her shoulder which shocked him. It was likely that she had received that scar during her time in the underground dueling world.

"That is the card that embodies my burning spirit! I...end my turn with that," Hikaru plainly stated.

Sensing his concern, Shiho scoffed at him somewhat revolted, "Spirit...dreams...such simple things. You're living in a fantasy world! That's just an illusion! I've seen this world, all of it is just an illusion, a cover-up for reality...your so-called Heartland City. I thought life was that simple as well at one point but then I was forced into waking up and seeing what the world was really like around me. There's suffering and chaos all over and that was just the inescapable truth. That's why I joined Nightfall, that's why I want to avenge those lost in the chaos."

"What...", uttered Hikaru

"Shut up! You wouldn't understand!", Shiho screamed out in rage.

She quickly started her turn and drew a card, "Let me show you the reality of this world. The underside of the world you're so comfortably used to. Since you're the only one with monsters, I can Special Summon Nemesis Fury by paying 1000 Life Points. "

Hikaru- 800 LP  
>Shiho- 600 LP<p>

After the payment, a strange dark green creature appeared walking on its arms and legs. It seemed like a demon with a long tail, distorted face and spiked shoulders. It stood up with its back bent forward in a lanky position and its long claws was one of its distinguishing features. The monster clenched its fists as a dark black-red haze engulfed the fiend (ATK: 1500, Level 5).

"Furthermore, I can add another 'Nemesis Fury' from my deck to my hand!"

A click noise was heard form her Duel Disk as a card popped out. She immediately flipped the second Nemesis Fury card over for Hikaru to see as she went on, "Now I call out Nemesis Purger!"

As Shiho finished, a dark angel emerged from the card as it wielded a large mace. Though the angel's wings were white, it wore dark robes all over its body which covered its skeleton but it's bony skull was easily seen (ATK: 800, Level 3).

Even with the two Nemesis' monsters ATK combined, Laval Stennon could easily win in a battle but Shiho laughed ominously as she showed Hikaru the Nemesis Fury in her hand, "Nemesis Fury is quite unique in that there's a second way to Special Summon this card. I can tribute a 'Nemesis' monster and Special Summon this card.

"What?!" exclaimed Hikaru who was absolutely shocked.

Nemesis Purger disappeared in a faint light as a second fiend similar to the one already on the field took its place. Now there were two fiends on the field as the haze intensified (ATK: 1500, Level 5).

"_There's two Level 5 monsters...",_ the boy thought to himself.

Shiho wasn't done yet as she grabbed another card, "When a monster has been tributed on my field during my turn, I can Special Summon another Nemesis monster to the field! Come forward, Nemesis Shell!"

Unlike the rest of Shiho's monsters, the one was a machine-type monster. It was a red sphere with a red light in the center covered in black tinted armor. The monster changed forms as it now started to glow dark red with the light rapidly flashing (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"Lastly, I play the Quick-Play Spell Card, Star Changer! I choose my own Nemesis Shell as the target. I can now increase its level by 1 making it a Level 5 monster!"

The AR vision showed four stars above Nemesis Core before another one was magically added on (Core Level: 4+1= 5).

With no cards in Shiho's hand and three Level 5 monsters, there was only one thing she would call for at this time. On cue, the female duelist raised up her arms as a red portal appeared above the battlefield. The two Nemesis Fury monsters became two red lights and the Nemesis Shell monster transformed into a dark purple light as all three rays were drawn into portal. A sharp wind started to pick up as the blue-black background of the Iron Curtain started to get dimmer and dimmer as darkness surrounded the battlefield.

"I use these three monsters to build the Overlay Network! Dragon of darkness who governs the fallen soul! Ruination descends and cries for your salvation! Xyz Summon! Reveal yourself, Nemesis Devastator!"

The portal suddenly turned black and exploded outward. Some sort of creature cried out as a black spot in the air was seen. In a matter of moments, the creature descended down and landed causing Hikaru to cover his eyes from the dust that picked up. He clearly saw a creature that he had never seen before. It was a black-red dragon which was much larger than his Laval Stennon. It had spikes and scales emerging all over its body with several parts of its body emitting a red glow. The odd thing though was that the spikes and scales seemed to cover only a portion of its body as the red insides of the monster could clearly be seen. With a vicious roar that never knocked Hikaru down again, the creature looked down on its prey (ATK: 2000, Rank 5, OU: 3).

Seeing the creature reminded Hikaru that body was definitely strained as he fell to one knee for a moment but got back up. Even if he ignored his body, there was one thing Hikaru couldn't ignore which was the dark aura around both his Laval Stennon and Shiho's Nemesis Devastator.

"You say that card is your spirit. It's that exact spirit which will be your downfall! I activate the first effect of my Nemesis Devastator which can only occur if Xyz Summoned with a 'Nemesis' monster as one of its Overlay Units. As long as its on the field, my monster gains ATK equal to half the original ATK of the strongest monster on my opponent's field!", she said to explain the dark aura.

Laval Stennon was brought down to one knee with a large thud as the dragon roared triumphantly. Hikaru was worried about his monster as he looked on from below (Devastator ATK: 2000+1350= 3350 ATK)

Gritting his teeth, Hikaru couldn't believe that effect, "So the strongest my monster, the stronger yours gets as well..."

"Then I activate the other effect of Nemesis Devastator!", shouted the Nemesis duelist.

Revealing its body, the dragon started to radiate a stronger dark red glow as one of its dark purple Overlay Units were consumed (Devastator OU: 2).

Showing Nemesis Shell to Hikaru as the removed Overlay Unit, she expanded on her previous statement, "This card can gain additional ATK and DEF equal to half the removed Overlay Unit's original ATK and Nemesis Devastator gains piercing damage for the rest of my turn. There's no where to hide from its wrath!"

The dark red aura was now mixed with its black aura forming two different auras on the monster. Its roar was now intense enough that Hikaru's body started to shake as it was even getting difficult to keep both eyes open now (Devastator ATK: 3350+850= 4200 ATK).

"That can't be..." the Laval duelist said unable to believe the monster in front of him.

"That is the reality you have to accept. Spirit and willpower are one thing but the end results are something different. Maybe afterwards, your eyes will be open. Nemesis Devastator, attack Laval Stennon! Total Devastation!"

"Laval Stennon, no!" Hikaru yelled

Hikaru could barely stand as the attack started to form. The black and red auras mixed together as the dragon opened its mouth forming a red and black fireball which quickly assumed the form of a black-red meteor. Now the Iron Curtain was starting to look wavy as both the heat and exhaustion were starting to catch up to Hikaru. He didn't notice that the meteor was almost already at his ace monster which raised up its arms to guard. Being struck by the meteor was too much as Laval Stennon faded away into light and the area exploded from the force of the attack. Even Shiho had to stand her ground to avoid being blown away as black smoke started to rise from the point of impact.

Hikaru- 0 LP  
>Shiho- 600 LP- WIN<p>

On the other hand, Hikaru was completely blasted away as his body was about to hit the ground. His cards were scattered all over and his Duel Disk was cracked. Before he hit the ground, a tear rolled down his face.

"_I'm sorry...everyone...", _was his last conscious thoughts.

By the time his body hit the ground, the boy was already unconscious. Shiho was equally exhausted as she took a minute to catch her breath before walking over to Hikaru. She looked down and seemed a bit concerned but ultimately brushed it off.

The Nightfall member looked over and saw the Laval Stennon card as the card faded away into a white blank slate.

"You'll be fine but you'll never be the same after this. Natsumi, she'll be alright too," she said quietly to herself.

* * *

><p>A card from her graveyard popped out as she looked at it for a minute before the Iron Curtain started to fade away. She opened a blue and purple portal as she stepped through and the AR Vision completely disappeared. The only thing left was Hikaru in an alleyway somewhere in Heartland City unconscious with a pile of cards by him and a now blank Laval Stennon card.<p>

Natsumi was nearby as her D-Pad finally picked up Hikaru's signal as she started to converge on his location. She wasn't happy at all since she had tried to message Hikaru a few times with no response and increased worry.

"_You'd better be alright, brother..."_

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Nemesis Minotaur

Level 4

Fire Attribute

Beast/Effect

ATK: 1800, DEF: 1000

When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent, reveal the top card of your deck and if it is a "Nemesis" monster, add it to your hand, otherwise place it on the bottom of your deck.

Nemesis Knight

Level 3

Dark Attribute

Warrior/Effect

ATK: 1200, DEF: 200

If a "Nemesis" monster you control was destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard last turn, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. You can Tribute this card to draw 1 card from your deck and inflict 400 damage to your opponent.

Nemesis Shell

Level 4

Dark Attribute

Machine/Effect

ATK: 1700, DEF: 800

During your turn, if a monster has been Tributed, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.

Nemesis Fury

Level 5

Fire Attribute

Fiend/Effect

ATK: 1500, DEF: 1500

If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand by paying 1000 Life Points and you can add a "Nemesis Fury" from your deck to your hand. This card can also be Special Summoned by Tributing a "Nemesis" monster that you control. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster. This card cannot be used as an Overlay Unit, except for the Xyz Summon of a Dark monster.

Nemesis Devastator

Rank 5

Dark Attribute

Dragon/Xyz/Effect

ATK: 2000, DEF: 1500

3 Level 5 Monsters

When this card is Xyz Summoned using a "Nemesis" monster as any of its Overlay Units, this card gains ATK equal to half the ATK of the faceup monster with the highest original ATK on the opponent's field. Once per turn, you can detach an Overlay Unit from this card and this card gains ATK and DEF equal to half the original ATK of the detached monster and this card inflicts piercing Battle Damage until the end phase.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20 Preview<strong>

Natsumi: Hikaru...just what happened out there and why?

Ayumi: It'll be alright, Natsumi. Hikaru's not one to just go out like this.

Ryoko: Just who did this though...they're going to pay.

Yuushi: Everyone...those feelings, alright first we need to figure out what's what.

Ayumi: Chapter 20: Yuushi Targeted. Yuushi...hey, Yuushi!


	21. Chapter 20: Yuushi Targeted

A day after Shiho's duel with Hikaru, three of the four main members of Nightfall met up once more in a dark building having their cloaks over their bodies. There were four chairs around a desk as some members of Nightfall were already in the room waiting.

Koji looked up, "Excellent work, Shiho. You did not fail to deliver."

Shiho on the other hand took up her red-striped dark cloak and sat in silence. "Of course," she plainly responded.

A moment after, the last main member of Nightfall entered in a bit of a hurry as he burst through the door.

"Something wrong?", asked Koji after seeing Hayato shaking his head.

With a few clicks and movements of his D-Pad, there was a projected graph with a large spike at the end, "We nearly have enough energy to go through with the first phase of the plan. However, we still need more energy to break through the Iron Curtain completely. From there, we can enter the Spirit World and carry on from there."

The last member Jun seemed a bit distracted but tilted his head up, "I don't see what's wrong with that."

"Just wait...," Hayato replied a bit flustered and projected a second graph, "The Iron Curtain is being tracked by someone other than us. It's hard to get a read on who they are though. They don't have quite a good reading as us but..."

Before Hayato could finish, Shiho stood up and was almost on her way out, "Then we'll just have to hurry before those other people even know what's going on."

After her statement, Koji nodded, "It's just as she says."

Everyone started to leave as Shiho was the first out the door and Jun was about to follow but then he suddenly blocked the door as his red-striped cloak fluttered and he looked at Hayato, "Take this back."

With one swift movement, the red-striped male threw a Spell Card to the silver-striped Hayato who seemed puzzled as Jun spoke up, "Yuushi Sakudo. The one with Arcanite Magician has a Spellcaster deck, does he not?"

"Yes. Arcanite Magician is his ace and he runs a Spell Counter deck. That monster is a Level 7 Synchro Monster that can...", Hayato started to explain.

Jun grinned mischievously, "I know what it does, you imbecile. Not only that but I know that it will be an interesting duel and I don't need that card from your deck to mess that up."

"What do you mean? If you know what it does, why not use Forbidden Chalice in order to counter it?!, Hayato started to yell back annoyed after the insult.

Jun was now the one raising his voice, "Oh, you don't think I can handle that amateur or something?!"

With a quick step, Jun was in Hayato's face staring him down. Though both were about the same age and height as older teens/younger adults, Koji sternly coughed once to draw their attentions. "As long as we can get the siphoned duelist energy, it doesn't matter what cards we use. Hayato, continue on tracking the energy and Jun, if you're so interested in facing Yuushi, then go ahead and head out."

The two looked at each other in a deadlock but Hayato used his somewhat larger body frame and went through Jun who was now angered. Although he wanted to continue the argument, Koji was looking on and was still staring at Jun as Koji coughed once, "I've known you for a while. Sometimes you're so stubborn that you won't listen to anyone. I just want to know if it's pride or stupidity."

Stepping forward, Jun commented, "If I can't beat an opponent like Yuushi Sakudo without any outside help, then I don't deserve to see a new era by your side. It's as simple as that. If a mysterious card like Arcanite Magician is by his side, a first-hand analysis is the best way to learn about it right? After I win, I'll just drain his energy along with that card and we'll see what happens afterwards. Besides Koji, you of all people should know that a card like that just can't be ignored."

Koji acknowledged his words with silence as the two left the dark room.

* * *

><p>The next day at Delta Academy, lunch had already passed and it was almost time for school to end for the day. People around Heartland City by this time had heard of the blank card incident as news started to spread quickly. The news had even reached many students including those in Classroom 1-D as Mr. Yamazaki continued his lecture on respiration.<p>

On the blackboard was a digital model of molecules and a flower as the teacher continued, "Through the process of respiration and oxygen, we exhale carbon dioxide when we breathe out. Plants use carbon dioxide as their version of oxygen and they "exhale", in a sense, oxygen which we use to breathe and the cycle continues."

Yuushi was taking notes as he looked to the side for a moment. He saw an empty seat and was distracted for a moment before tuning back in to Mr. Yamazaki's lecture. Class went on as usual but Yuushi thought that everyone in the class already knew the reason why that one seat was empty.

"Remember class, tomorrow we will be learning about anaerobic respiration and some of the basics behind how it functions and its purpose."

The girl beside Yuushi whispered, "Hey. You alright?"

"Yeah but...I never thought Hikaru would be one of those victims. You read about it in the papers and hear it on the news but when it happens in front of you, it's just..." Yuushi quickly whispered to Ayumi with mixed feelings.

"I know what you mean. It's a lot different," stated Ayumi finishing up Yuushi's sentence.

Looking at the clock, there was still 20 minutes left before the end of class but Mr. Yamazaki ended the lecture and ended another educational video before he pulled out a greeting card, "As some of you know, one of your classmates, Hikaru Aoki is currently in an unfortunate coma-like state for an unknown period of time. Fortunately, his mother has told me that the doctor told her that it was not fatal. Whether or not it was part of the blank card incident, I do not know for certain but regardless I would like him and his family to know that he has our deepest support. I urge you all to sign this card wishing his family and him the best in a speedy and healthy recovery."

Everyone got out of their seats and pulled out various writing materials and signed the card with various colors and words and some messages were even upside-down. Regardless, the card was soon filled up with words wishing Hikaru the best.

With only a few minutes left before the end of the school day, Mr. Yamazaki addressed the class once more, "Would anyone like to take this card to Hikaru's family in Heartland Hospital? I have directions and the room number of the hospital. Seeing a classmate may raise his family's spirits."

Yuushi looked over to Ayumi and without any words, Ayumi knew what Yuushi would do as the boy raised his hand, "Sure. We can take it to them."

The final bell rung as the students started to leave and Yuushi and Ayumi picked up their class's wishes and hopes in the form of a card directed to Hikaru.

"Thanks, you two. I'm sure they'll be happy to receive this," the teacher said trying to convey the importance of this card.

* * *

><p>Just outside the school doors, Yuushi had put the get-well card in his backpack as Ayumi followed him closely. She looked over his shoulder and read the note, "Heartland Hospital, Room 220. That's the room number right? We can take the monorail heading downtown."<p>

"Yeah. It's about a five to ten minute jog to the hospital from there," a female voice stated as the individual met up to the two.

Yuushi recognized the voice and looked to the side and noticed that Ryoko caught up to both of them. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."

The three high schoolers made their way over to the monorail station and boarded the next monorail downtown. About twenty minutes later, they were at the station closest to the hospital and got off. Ryoko didn't really know where the hospital was so she simply followed Yuushi and Ayumi who were turning their heads and heading off.

On the way over, Ayumi asked the others, "Did any of you hear exactly what happened to Hikaru?"

"Nothing much really. Just now that he has a blank card and is in the hospital. Natsumi was one of the first people to find Hikaru unconscious. I hope she's alright," said Yuushi while shaking his head.

Ryoko shook her head as well, "Just a few rumors around school. A few really weird theories but that's usually the norm when someone like this happens." After continually walking for a few seconds Ryoko smiled a bit, "Anyways...we need to look a bit happy to at least cheer up Hikaru's family. No point in being depressed all over this and making them more depressed too."

"Agreed. While this is serious, just being sad isn't going to do anyone any good. We have our class's wishes in this card and we have to convey that message along," nodded Yuushi.

* * *

><p>Roughly 15 minutes afterwards, the group noticed more and more ambulances and other cars as they were practically at the front entrance of Heartland Hospital. A warm breeze blew through the air momentarily as the group entered through the automatic doors into the main floor of the building. There were already several people waiting in line, sitting down or hanging around the main lobby. A few people were reading the news on their D-Pads or just walking by in crutches. None of the three knew exactly where Room 220 was as they walked past the receptionist desk. Looking left and right were doctors and nurses moving past the group at a quick pace as Yuushi made note of several room numbers as he made his way through.<p>

"_100, 107, 111, 119..."_

Noticing all the rooms on the first floor were in the 100s, Yuushi, Ayumi and Ryoko concluded that the second floor would most likely have the rooms in the 200s such as Room 220 where Hikaru was. The group entered a nearby elevator as the doors closed and Yuushi hit a button which moved the elevator to the second floor.

*Ding*

After that noise, the doors opened and they made a left turn and started walking down the path.

"210, 212, 214, 216, 218...220. We're here then." Yuushi muttered quietly so that only the other two girls could hear him.

Before they knocked on the door, Yuushi opened his backpack and pulled out the card. It was a relatively simple looking card with a relatively simple message but without a doubt, it was important.

"Are you ready?", Ayumi said to the other two of them sensing the tension in the air.

Yuushi and Ryoko nodded as they turned to knock on the door. However, the door was already open and they saw the unconscious Hikaru laid down on the hospital bed. Although his parents weren't around, there was one familiar young girl sitting by the bed and looking over her D-Pad.

She noticed that other people had walked in and turned her chair around to greet her visitors. "Hi, everyone. Did you come to visit my brother?"

Ryoko waved to Natsumi but got worried, "How exactly is Hikaru?"

"Uh...the doctor said that he'll be around soon enough and then we can really see how he's doing. For now though, Hikaru is just resting and that he's fine and stable. Um, that's about all I know," answered Natsumi a bit nervously.

Though Yuushi wasn't a medical expert or anything, he felt that Hikaru being hooked up to a small tube and a machine wasn't exactly his definition of being "fine". Nevertheless, the room seemed to be the standard room for patients with a decent bed, other monitoring screens and devices, a television, a washroom, a few chairs and even a round mirror. He was a bit at a loss with words, not exactly knowing what exactly to say to Natsumi. While he could have talked about Hikaru's current condition more, he felt that a girl as young as Natsumi was already uncomfortable here and talking about things like that just might make it worse for her.

Nonetheless, there was one thing bothering Yuushi a bit as he asked, "Natsumi, where are your parents?"

The dark blue-black haired girl closed her eyes momentarily and spoke quietly, "Our dad isn't in good shape and when he heard about Hikaru's coma thing, he sort of got sick too and he's at another clinic trying to get better too. The nurses and doctors have been really nice to me though."

"What about classes then?", Yuushi said firing off another question.

"My mom called in and said that I don't have to go today. At least there's no homework," the young girl

replied back.

Ryoko grinned trying to cheer her up, "That's good news at least."

"We have something for you. It's from our class," Ayumi mentioned.

On cue, Yuushi handed Natsumi a card as Hikaru's sister glanced through quickly and smiled, "It's a great card and thanks. I'll just place it right near Hikaru and hopefully this will make him wake up faster."

"When Hikaru gets up, tell him that he needs to focus on getting better. Knowing him, he'll probably get a bit jumpy so you have to calm him down," Yuushi said while glancing at Hikaru.

"_Whoever did this is starting to get increasingly bold. This type of incident has been getting more frequent and has even targeted both of us. I don't know what exactly is going on but I'll try to find out what I can. When it's all said and done, this will all end...that's a promise," _Yuushi thought to himself.

Natsumi placed the card on the counter by Hikaru's bed as the three stayed in the hospital for another hour as a nurse came by for a quick check-up before leaving again. An hour after the nurse's visit, a doctor knocked on the door before letting herself in and seeing the four people inside.

"Are these some of Hikaru's friends, Natsumi?", the female doctor asked.

She nodded, "Yep, they're some of his friends at Delta Academy. They've been here for a while."

Outside the window, the sun was starting to set as the three high schoolers felt the same thing as they started to get up.

"It's getting a bit late. We'll head out for today. We'll probably visit sometime soon though," Ryoko commented.

Yuushi and Ayumi got up as well as they said goodbye and left leaving the doctor to perform some tests and check-ups on Hikaru. The high schoolers hoped that Hikaru and Natsumi's parents would eventually arrive too as they left the hospital.

* * *

><p>On the way back to the monorail station, the black-haired boy seemed a bit quiet as the girls started to talk.<p>

"We heard some things about this curtain from Dr. Sakudo and his team but I wonder what sort of tests he needed Arcanite Magician for," questioned Ryoko.

The other dark-browned haired girl thought about it for a moment, "I'm not too sure. Maybe they don't know exactly what they're looking for themselves but are just collecting data for analysis. Yuushi, did your dad say anything specific to you?"

On the other hand, Yuushi was contemplating about this whole curtain incident himself, _"The only thing I don't like is that nobody has any information on what's going on. Sure there's some rough pieces of information to go on but that alone doesn't necessarily prove anything. Even worse, there's no solid explanation on this blank card or curtain thing at all. Whoever is doing this...just what are they thinking of accomplishing..."_

After a long moment, Ayumi looked at him, "Yuushi, is there something wrong? You seem like you're not listening to anything."

The boy turned his head and chuckled with slight embarrassment, "Sorry, I didn't catch any of that. I was just going through my mind about those curtain people and trying to figure out their plan. I mean I hope someone can do something about it. I'd try but I don't really have any information to go on other than what's been published in the media."

"Maybe Hikaru knows something about it and we can find out after he wakes up. It's just a matter of time right?", added Ryoko.

Yuushi looked up at the sky for a moment, "That's a good point. Hopefully, he has a lead or something to go on."

The group reached the monorail station and eventually, the next monorail that would take them to their homes arrived. Everyone began to pile into the large public vehicle.

"_I just have a bad feeling about all this,"_ Yuushi noted to himself concerned about his friends, especially since Hikaru and himself had been a target of these incidents.

The doors closed as the monorail sped away. After many stops, they passed by various places like a mall, a few schools, a stadium and even a water park. Eventually, they reached a stop at Ryoko started to get off. She waved goodbye to the others as the doors closed leaving Yuushi and Ayumi as the duo left in the group. The sun was almost set by now as the monorail reached Yuushi's stop as he prepared to get off.

"My stop's coming up soon," pointed out Yuushi.

"It's the one coming up now right? I think I have about two or three stops after you," the girl said back while taking a look at Yuushi.

The boy tried to remember everything he had to do out loud as he sighed and looked at Ayumi, "I still have to do some homework. It's due tomorrow and I'll try to finish up before dinner. Maybe we can chat later and do something tonight after."

She responded, "That's seems good to me. Then I'll make sure to finish everything too before then."

The monorail announced the next step and Yuushi along with many others walked off. He waved goodbye as the doors closed leaving him alone to walk back home. He descended down the stairs onto the sidewalk as he stretched before going on his way.

A few cars passed by as Yuushi had more thoughts swirling in his mind, _"How many more people like Norio are running around Heartland City at this rate. I really doubt he's the most dangerous one too. It might be pessimistic but...no, the most important thing is that Hikaru is still well and that we got the card to Natsumi just fine. Just need to take things one step at a time and not rush things."_

After crossing the next street, Yuushi went into a small park. The exit on the other side saved him some time as he wouldn't have to walk all around the sidewalk but rather cut straight through. It was about dinner time so there were only a few people here and there including some kids on the swings and some adults leisurely taking a stroll.

The sky started to get cloudier as Yuushi walked down a narrow path of trees past a field. He thought to himself that it would take roughly ten minutes or so of walking until he reached the end of the path. Suddenly though, Yuushi noticed that his Duel Disk started to glow like a bright light. Without looking, Yuushi knew the glowing card was Arcanite Magician as he stopped in his tracks but the only thing now was to see why the card was glowing.

"_This is never good..."_

The tree beside him started to glow as a cloaked figure inserted a card into his graveyard. Before Yuushi had any time to react, a faint curtain descended behind him as it blanketed the entire area. A flash of light temporarily blinded Yuushi as he closed his eyes waiting for the light to fade. In the next moments, he opened his eyes and realized that he was in some sort of blue-black space that was definitely not Heartland City.

"_Just like before..."_

The black-haired boy glanced over and noticed another person in a black cloak with a red stripe on it staring him down.

Yuushi glared back at him and demanded, "Who are you guys?! Where are we?!"

The cloaked person chuckled, "Yuushi Sakudo. I am part of the group known as Nightfall. I think you've already been acquainted with Norio already. As for your other question, we are in a space known as the Iron Curtain which is somewhat like the border between our world and the Duel Monsters world.

"_Dad was right then..._", Yuushi thought to himself before speaking up, "How did you know my name?!"

"You simpleton. Did you really think I'd engage you here if I didn't have all the facts straight? You're a first year student at Delta Academy who placed relatively high in their Duel Monsters tournament. I also know that you run a Spell Counter deck. I have all your data in my head. Information like that is key to success, not only in Duel Monsters but also in the world. On the other side of the coin though, incorrect information or data put in incompetent hands has led to the downfall and ruin of many," the cloaked male casually stated.

Yuushi thought that his statement was fairly accurate but couldn't figure out why he'd blurt all this information out.

The cloaked person chuckled and continued on, "As a matter of fact, you're a good example Yuushi. Your ace monster, Arcanite Magician is a card you possess but do you even know exactly what it does or how you came across it? You just stuck it in your Spell Counter deck and ran around hoping that it would somehow work itself out. If that's the way you duel, then this will hardly be worth my time. That stupidity, lack of data and incompetence will be your downfall right now."

"So I take it you know something about Arcanite Magician then?!" shouted Yuushi who was now flustered.

"Perhaps. But that's for me to know and you to find out," the other male said while pulling out his Duel Disk.

Yuushi hesitantly pulled out and readied his Duel Disk, _"If this guy really does have all this information on me, then I bet he likely has some counter measures to my deck. I don't like this at all but he's not giving me much of a choice. There's nowhere to run and winning a duel is the only way I know how to escape from this Iron Curtain."_

He took another look at the cloaked person and got his glasses ready as they started to function as a D-Gazer. On the other hand, the cloaked person's eyes flashed blue momentarily as he activated his contact lens D-Gazer. Furthermore, he pulled out some sort of square attachment and slammed it into his Duel Disk. His attachment was likely a custom model as the attachment extended and transformed into a platform which acted as his side of the field.

"AR Vision, link complete," the mechanical voice said bluntly.

The area digitized around both duelists as they both drew five cards and prepared themselves.

"Duel!"

Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Jun- 4000 LP<p>

The glasses boy was serious from the beginning knowing the situation and started the duel off, _"Can't __let this guy have a solid plan from the start so I'll start by hiding my plan."_

"I set down a monster and another card behind it and end my turn!", shouted Yuushi.

Firstly, a horizontal facedown appeared at the forefront followed by another set Spell/Trap card right behind the unknown monster.

Jun calmly started the second turn, "My turn. Draw! I activate the Spell Card, Spellbook Library of the Crescent from my hand. Try to keep up here. Since I have no 'Spellbook' Spell Cards in the graveyard, I can show you three different 'Spellbook' Spell Cards from my deck. You will get to randomly select one of them which will go into my hand."

Yuushi thought about his explanation for a moment as Jun's Duel Disk started radiate a light blue glow, _"If this goes through, he'll have a decent chance of getting almost any card he wants and I won't even know it. However, he's probably running a 'Spellbook' and 'Prophecy' deck which means that something like this will help..."_

Swinging his arm, Yuushi revealed his set Trap Card, "I'll activate Magic Drain! If you still want to use that card, you'll have to discard another Spell Card in your hand. If you choose not to, then this card will negate your Spellbook Library of the Crescent."

The cloaked duelist looked at his hand momentarily, "Very well then, I guess your card goes through."

Sure enough, the glow from Jun's Duel Disk disappeared but he wasn't done yet as he analyzed Yuushi's field, "With no cards to protect that monster, your defenses are weak. I summon Charioteer of Prophecy!"

With a faint light, a human horseman emerged from the card. The white horse neighed as the blonde-haired rider calmed it down before brandishing out his wind sword as his blue cape fluttered upon pulling out the weapon. The appearance of the rider's green cloth armor resembled something similar to a medieval warrior (ATK: 1800, Level 4).

"Here's my attack then! Go, Charioteer of Prophecy!"

The horse neighed once more and started to gallop forward. The rapid stomping shook the area as the rider raised up his sword. A coat of visible wind surrounded the sword and quickly was in striking range. The facedown card flipped over and revealed Yuushi's monster in a red fog which was Blast Magician (DEF: 1700, Level 4). The defending monster raised up its scythe like weapon and prepared to block but the horseman's slash proved too powerful as Blast Magician was slashed in half and digitized off the field before disappearing into light.

Though Yuushi lost no Life Points thanks to his defense mode monster, his field was empty. However, he wasn't too nervous as he scanned the field. Jun had no more attacks to launch which meant that he was more than likely safe this turn.

"I suppose you're finished then," said Yuushi.

"For now I'll end my turn but I'm just getting started. I'm actually looking forward to see how this duel turns out," Jun said a bit relaxed.

Yuushi was curious, "Why's that?"

His opponent stared at Yuushi for a moment, "We both run Spellcaster decks which means that I want to prove that I'm the better Spellcaster duelist. Not only in this duel, but I have something I need to prove to someone else as well. Someone that I look up to...someone whose vision is beyond this world."

The black-haired boy didn't know how to respond to that and it just raised more questions for him, "Who exactly are you talking about?!"

Jun looked over at Yuushi ominously before grinning somewhat maliciously, "You really seem to want more and more information for someone so incompetent at handling it. How about this then? I'll tell you everything if you can beat me. For now, let's see your strength. Let's see if the cards made the right choice."

This was all cryptic and confusing for Yuushi but Jun really sounded like he definitely knew something not only about Arcanite Magician but even about this whole blank card and Iron Curtain incident.

"_For those who've fallen to Nightfall. For those who've been affected by this curtain. For Hikaru and Natsumi, I can't afford to lose here,"_ shouted Yuushi mentally as he gained more confidence and was about to draw his next card.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, a computer in a laboratory started to rapidly beep as Mr. Sakudo started to hastily type on the computer. Sure enough, the source of the beeping came from a park in Heartland City. Not only that but there was a familiar signature that was caught inside the Iron Curtain. This really made Yuushi's father nervous as the familiar signature was Arcanite Magician and more likely than not, his son was caught inside the Iron Curtain too according to the readings. He opened his own D-Pad and tried to immediately contact Yuushi but got no response which confirmed his fears.<p>

Other scientists were scrambling as Mr. Sakudo started to make a call to someone else, "Dr. Hotake. How far are you from Heartland City right now?"

The other doctor thought for a moment, "Not too far. Maybe ten minutes or so, why?"

"The Iron Curtain has been detected inside Heartland City. Not only that but my son is inside too...I can't get in touch with Yuushi so I have to get over there but I want you to get there first to see what's going on!", shouted the agitated doctor as he got up to leave.

Dr. Hotake nodded quickly, "Give me the coordinates and I'll be right there. I'll tell you if there's anything strange."

* * *

><p><strong>Note: Thanks to Overlord reign for the deck idea and concept for Jun<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21 Preview<strong>

Yuushi: This group Nightfall. They're the ones behind all this so I have to win this duel! The main problem in this duel is that this guy has nearly all my data.

Yuushi: But still, I can't give up now. This is the most important duel I've ever had so far and data can only get you so far anyways.

Yuushi: Chapter 21: Spellcaster's Pride. Jun, he's might be condescending but there's something driving him...something I can't explain...just what is it?


	22. Chapter 21: Spellcaster's Pride

In Heartland City, a van was making its way down the streets. Dr. Hotake was the driver as he just got off his D-Gazer talking to Yuushi's father, Dr. Sakudo. The scientist turned the corner and looked at his monitoring device. A map of Heartland City was displayed with a pinging location that the scientist calculated was about another ten minutes away.

"_Seems to be inside a park. If that really is Dr. Sakudo's son with his Arcanite Magician, then this isn't just going to be some ordinary phenomenon,"_ Dr. Hotake concluded as he continued to drive.

At the lab, Yuushi's father was monitoring the data from the Iron Curtain but was more concerned about his son and hoped that nothing bad had happened to him.

"Yuushi...," muttered Dr. Sakudo as he closed his eyes momentarily.

* * *

><p>Inside the blue-black space known as the Iron Curtain, Yuushi was in a duel with a cloaked individual named Jun who was a member of the mysterious group known as Nightfall. Yuushi was focused on not only winning this duel but also a bit of payback for what they had put him and his friends through. The duel had just ended Jun's first turn meaning that Yuushi's second turn was coming up. Both duelists had four cards in their hand and Yuushi's field was completely empty and Jun only had one monster, Charioteer of Prophecy.<p>

Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Jun- 4000 LP<p>

"Here I go! My turn, draw!", Yuushi shouted as he drew a fifth card into his hand and it was the Spell Card, Terraforming.

He looked at the card carefully, _"If he's playing a Prophecy and Spellbook deck, he should use a few Spell Cards during his next turn which helps me out. First of all, I need to summon this guy."_

Pulling a card from his card, Yuushi announced his first move, "I summon a second Blast Magician to the field!

A somewhat-malicious red-robed Spellcaster-type monster emerged from its card. It wielded a large scythe-like staff as red haze leaked out from its feet. The monster was wearing dark purple robes underneath and looked up at Jun's monster with a sly grin (ATK: 1400, Level 4).

"Then, I activate Terraforming!"

A green card materialized on the field as it started to glow before a blue light followed by a shockwave erupted out of the card as Yuushi's deck started to glow blue.

Afterwards, the red mist was drawn into Blast Magician's weapon as the scythe began to glow red as well signalling a power increase (Blast SC: 1) as Yuushi nodded, "Even though I just activated a Spell Card like usual, Blast Magician has a useful initial effect. Each time a Spell Card is activated, this card gains its own Spell Counter."

With a good start, he started to search through his deck and grabbed a card before explaining, "After Terraforming is activated, I can add a Field Spell Card from my deck to my hand and I'll use it right now. The card I chose and will now activate is Magical Citadel of Endymion!"

The area around them rapidly changed as the surroundings altered themselves to a magical city. Buildings erupted from the ground along with several towers and statues which formed a barrier around the city and duelists. Near the two, a large tower emerged which stretched to the skies as sigils and glyphs formed on the sides of the building. Blast Magician prepared itself as it began to draw power from the Spell Card (SC: 1+1= 2).

"Since I have a monster on the field and this Field Spell, from my hand, I activate One-Shot Wand! This Equip Spell allows me to equip the wand onto a Spellcaster-type monster giving the equipped monster an 800 ATK point boost," said Yuushi as he placed the card onto his Duel Disk.

The scythe that Yuushi's monster was previously holding disappeared while Blast Magician reached out its hand. Green and white lights began to gather around the hand as the monster grabbed onto the light which had transformed into a black-handle golden half-moon tipped wand which emitted a green and golden light (Blast ATK: 1400+800= 2200 ATK).

The red mist got heavier and thicker around Blast Magician's body signalling another change (Blast SC: 2+1= 3) while the central tower in the citadel lit up as glowing glyphs etched themselves onto the side of the tower (Citadel SC: 1).

The high schooler looked over to his opponent trying to read his expression, "Not only does my Blast Magician gain Spell Counters for each Spell Card but my Field Spell also has that effect."

Jun just stared at Yuushi silently underneath the shadow of the cloak. He had stopped examining the scenery around him and crossed his arms with indifference.

"Here goes! Blast Magician, attack Charioteer of Prophecy!," loudly announced Yuushi.

The One-Shot Wand on Blast Magician was pointed at the horse rider as the rider's shield was raised up in a defensive position. A golden, luminous orb formed on the tip of the wand and was shot out. The sphere of golden light smashed into the horseman who was obliterated into particles of light as Jun was left with no monsters on his side of the field. Jun had to defend himself from the explosion as his cloak fluttered wildly in the wind. As the smoke subsided, the cloak was covered in dust and rock as the mysterious opponent panted lightly.

Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Jun- 3600 LP<p>

"Since the wielder of One-Shot Wand attacked, the Equip Spell's secondary ability can be activated. The reason it's called One-Shot Wand is that with this effect, after that one shot, I can destroy this card. In exchange though, I can draw one card from my deck."

The wand glowed in a similar gold and green light to when it first appeared. Just as it materialized, it de-materialized into thin air in the same fashion but not before Yuushi's deck illuminated a golden glow which allowed Yuushi to draw the top card from his deck and add the card to his hand (Blast ATK: 2200-800= 1400 ATK).

Before making the next move, Yuushi went over his short-term plan one more time as he quickly glanced at a Trap Card in his hand, _"Even though my monster just lost 800 ATK making it vulnerable to one of Jun's monsters on his upcoming turn, this card should cover me very well. I think I've seen enough of this guy's deck and I can begin my own counterattack next turn."_

"I'll set this card down and it's your move then," declared Yuushi as a facedown card materialized in the back row of his playing field.

The fairly silent Jun looked up at Yuushi's field and thought over his own plan, _"He's probably realized that my deck uses as many, if not more, Spell Cards than his own. That citadel allows him to harness the power of spells and use them to his own ends. Still, he'll need to get on a different level to even think about challenging me."_

"Draw!", the cloaked male said starting the fourth turn of the duel off. "I activate another 'Spellbook' card from my hand, the Spell Card known as Spellbook of Secrets."

An ancient and mystical tome of magic appeared in a bright winter light as the seal on its pages broke. The book opened itself as pages began to flip in rapid succession.

"I'll explain this so even an imbecile like you can follow. Any decent scholar or knowledge keeper will have many ways to find and extract vital sources of information. Even though I can only activate this card once per turn, I can add any 'Spellbook' card from my deck to my hand except this card. The card I have chosen is Spellbook of Power!"

With that decree, the pages suddenly stopped flipping as a bright card flew up from the pages themselves. Upon closer inspection, the card was indeed Spellbook of Power as the card flew over and added itself into Jun's hand before the book disappeared in a bright flash.

Yuushi motioned with his arm to the central tower of the citadel along with his Blast Magician as more glyphs on the tower began to form (Citadel SC: 1+1= 2) and the red mist around Blast Magician got even heavier (Blast SC: 3+1= 4).

"Since you just activated your Spell Card, both my Field Spell and monster have gained another Spell Counter," clarified Yuushi.

"I know what those cards do, you fool! Summon! Strength of Prophecy!", Jun said in a condescending manner.

A short red-haired male with brown and silver armor and silver cape was summoned forth. The green cloth covering his large hatchet-like axe flew off into the wind, revealing the broad weapon in full force. Though someone of his size would have difficulty picking up such a weapon, magical runes on the weapon made it easy for Jun's monster to wield (ATK: 1500, Level 4).

"_Another card from the Major Arcana..."_, Yuushi noted mentally.

"Furthermore, I equip Spellbook of Power to my monster. The card gives my monster 1000 more ATK until the End Phase," explained Jun.

The Equip Spell started to glow as a red tome replaced Strength of Prophecy's axe. With a flaming red glow, an aura surrounded Jun's monster before fading away (Strength ATK: 1500+1000= 2500 ATK).

With another Spell Card being activated, the markings on the citadel climb to halfway up the central tower (Citadel SC: 2+1= 3) and the red mist reaches the point where Blast Magician is also dyed red (Blast SC: 4+1= 5)

"Once again, since another Spell Card was used, I have access to more Spell Counters," the high schooler stated with confidence.

Without waiting any further, Jun entered the Battle Phase, "No matter how many Spell Counters you have, it won't save you from this! Strength of Prophecy, attack!"

The Spellbook of Power broke the chains binding the book in place as a red portal opened up in the sky. From the portal, a red-orange beam of light was shot out aiming at Yuushi's only monster, Blast Magician. The red stream of power engulfed Blast Magician and obliterated it as the stream continued on about to engulf Yuushi as well but a facedown card was activated by Yuushi.

"I activate the Trap Card, Defense Draw! This card negates any Battle Damage I would have taken from that and then I get to draw one card from my deck."

A barrier of light surrounded Yuushi as the stream of magic was deflected around the barrier. The top card of the short black-haired boy's deck began to glow as well as he drew that card into his hand.

Jun scoffed at that last move, "Playing it safe are we?"

"Your monster is going to lose that 1000 ATK boost soon and adding another card into my hand isn't bad," Yuushi snapped back.

"Whatever you say. Can't argue with ignorance after all," Jun shrugged back but then pointed forward as the Spellbook began to glow as red lightning shot out as the pages of the book opened themselves up, "Even if you took no damage from that, my Spellbook of Power has another effect when the wielder destroys your monster through battle. I can add a 'Spellbook' Spell Card from my deck to my hand."

Similar to the Spellbook of Secrets earlier another card flew out from the pages of the book as Jun revealed the card to Yuushi, "I choose to add another Spellbook of Secrets! Since I used one already, I can't activate this again."

The red mist from Blast Magician was still on the field as it began to disappear. However, the towers around the Magical Citadel of Endymion began to glow as the red mist was absorbed through the small tower at the side. Channelling the magical properties of the mist through a built-in system, the magic of the leftover mist powered the central tower, allowing it to shine and revealing the full array of sigils and markings surrounding the outer walls of the large, central tower (Citadel SC: 3+5= 8).

Yuushi nodded in silence and looked up at the shining central tower, "The citadel has a powerful unique property. Normally, when cards with Spell Counters are destroyed, the Spell Counters are lost forever. The mages and founders of this magical haven thought it was a waste so they researched ways to channel lost magic. Thanks to their studies, those lost Spell Counters can be added to the citadel's pool of Spell Counters."

"Thank you for that irrelevant story," the caped opponent commented sarcastically before smirking and grabbing a card in his hand, "I'll set one card and end my turn. Along with that, my monster returns to its original ATK."

Sure enough, a card materialized onto Jun's side of the field and his monster's axe returned and the Spellbook of Power card disappeared into the cloaked duelists's graveyard (Strength ATK: 2500-1000= 1500 ATK).

Despite having the necessary Spell Counters to summon a powerful monster, Yuushi could not help but get an uneasy feeling about all this as he analyzed Jun's previous move, _"There's so many strange things about his last move. Firstly, why didn't he activate his monster's ability. Strength of Prophecy's effect allows him to shuffle a 'Spellbook' Spell from the graveyard back to his deck and his monster would gain one Level and a permanent 500 ATK. I don't think he knew I had Defense Draw facedown. Even if he did, 500 more ATK would be beneficial to him."_

After shaking his head, there was something else Yuushi couldn't get over, _"Secondly, he practically gave me all the Spell Counters I need. Was he hoping that I didn't have Endymion in my hand or something? If he did so much research on my deck and knows about Arcanite Magician, then he must know what all those Spell Counters on the Citadel can do."_

Seeing Yuushi think, Jun was getting restless, "Come on! Are you cowering behind your empty field or what?!"

Yuushi dismissed the taunt but decided that what's done is done, "I'll go then! Draw!"

Adding another card in the Draw Phase, Yuushi looked at the fully lit-up central tower, "The ruler of spells, show yourself in this battle! I summon thee, Endymion the Master Magician!"

He slammed the card onto his Duel Disk as the tower's light became strong enough to illuminate the battlefield (Citadel SC: 8-6= 2). A bright beam was shot upward from the tower as the light crashed down onto Yuushi's side of the field. The illuminating light faded and revealed a dark purple and gold armored magician wielding an exotic purple and golden staff (ATK: 2700, Level 7). Endymion raised up its staff as it began to glow and Yuushi's graveyard shot out a similar ray of light.

"When I remove six Spell Counters from the Magical Citadel of Endymion as a cost, this card can be Special Summoned from my hand which allows me to add a Spell Card from my graveyard to my hand. The one I'll be adding is One-Shot Wand."

Jun grinned, "That Equip Spell won't matter since your monster is about to disappear from my sight. A powerful monster like Endymion is normally tough to take down but I've planned this since my last turn. I knew that you would set up for Endymion the moment your Field Spell was activated so I sped it up for this card, the Quick-Play Spell called Spellbook of Fate!"

With a swing of his arm, Jun's facedown was revealed as a golden circle with strange markings expanded itself across the battlefield as a golden book fell into Strength of Prophecy's hands as Jun's monster began to chant. The golden circle began to glow as Endymion began to fade away from existence.

"What?!", exclaimed Yuushi seeing one of his best monsters about to disappear.

"Like with Spellbook of Secrets, I can only activate one Spellbook of Fate per turn. When I control a Spellcaster, I can remove from play three 'Spellbook' Spell Cards in my graveyard in order to remove from play a card you control like your so-called Master Magician," Jun told Yuushi with confidence.

Like Jun said, his Spellbook Library of the Crescent, Spellbook of Secrets and Spellbook of Power flashed momentarily in the air before turning into golden dust that showered Endymion before one of Yuushi's most powerful monsters was removed off the field. However, the spell Endymion began had completed before he was removed. The Equip Spell Card popped out of the Duel Disk as Yuushi showed it to his opponent but losing Endymion was a large setback for Yuushi. Though the master of the citadel was gone, the central tower was still functioning as another Spell Card powered up the building (Citadel SC: 2+1= 3).

"Just like that, one of your best monsters is gone! Not only that but since I removed it from play, your monster cannot revive itself no matter how many Spell Counters the citadel may have. So what will you do now?!" Jun challenged Yuushi.

Yuushi scowled in slight frustration, _"So that's why he didn't activate his Strength of Prophecy's effect last turn. He needed all his 'Spellbook' Spell Cards for Spellbook of Fate's third effect."_

Although this wasn't part of Yuushi's plan, he had no choice but to continue onwards with the situation "I'll summon Alchemist of Black Spells!"

The card digitized onto Yuushi's side of the field and a dark purple and gold Spellcaster-type monster leaped upwards. After landing on its knees and making sure its text was alright, the monster looked upward at the opposing Spellcaster-type monster (ATK: 1200, Level 4).

"Sure hope you haven't forgotten about what One-Shot Wand does because I'm going to equip it to my Alchemist for an extra 800 ATK boost."

Like before, Yuushi's monster was now wielding the lunar weapon as it radiated a green and golden light (Alchemist ATK: 1200+800= 2000 ATK). With another Spell Card activated, another Spell Counter was added onto the central tower of the citadel (Citadel SC: 3+1= 4)

The black-haired boy nodded to his monster who nodded back, "Since I have the advantage in a straight battle, I attack your monster with Alchemist of Black Spells!"

Aiming the tip of the staff at the red-haired monster, Yuushi's alchemist fired off a green and golden ray of light that went straight through the monster and even engulfed Jun in its light. Jun raised up his arm to defend as the cloth covering his arm blast blasted off revealing his flesh.

Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Jun- 3100 LP<p>

At this rate this was going, Yuushi would slowly but surely chip his Life Points down. However, he needed to set up his other plan but he didn't have the necessary cards as he declared his next move, "Since the monster with One-Shot attacked, I'll send that Equip Spell to the graveyard in order to draw 1 card from my deck."

The wand faded away from this plane of existence as a green and golden light bathed Yuushi's deck which allowed him to a card (Alchemist ATK: 2000-800= 1200 ATK).

"Though my monster just attacked, Alchemist of Black Spells has an effect which lets me switch it into DEF mode and add a Spell Counter to my Field Spell," Yuushi bluntly told his opponent.

Alchemist of Black Spells knelled down and raised up a defensive barrier but not before thrusting out its arm and shooting out a black sphere of magic at the Magical Citadel of Endymion (DEF: 1800). The central tower absorbed the magic shot and began to light up with glyphs reaching almost all the way up the tower (Citadel SC: 4+1= 5).

"Turn end!"

His opponent chuckled, "Not only did you get a card out of that but you don't have to suffer through the 800 ATK loss since your monster is in DEF mode. It's a safe move but a move that speaks volumes about you."

"What's that suppose to mean?!" shouted Yuushi a bit puzzled.

Jun continued his analysis, "I know people like you. They just sit around all day thinking they know everything when in reality, they lack the strength and courage to show themselves to the world. That's why you're cowering behind those defenses. You're afraid of what you might see."

"I don't know what you mean. I think I played a very smart move," Yuushi argued back.

"I used to be like you until I met Nightfall's leader, Koji. He showed me how wrong I was. I had all the theory and data but I was missing something. That something is what will let me win this duel and leave you on the ground like the dirt you are! My turn, draw!", Jun said continuing the duel, "You're probably just sitting around and drawing cards hoping to stall it out for something. How about I get a little more serious now?"

Yuushi didn't like being insulted but ignored it as he had to focus on the duel. He gasped to himself hoping Jun was bluffing but he could tell that the caped opponent was in a different state now as Jun began his Main Phase, "Summon, Temperance of Prophecy!"

A red-robed individual emerged from the newest card on the field. This Spellcaster was holding two cups emanating smoke that were chained together from the bottom. Not much else could be said about the mysterious monster except that strange runes were floating around the individual (ATK: 1000, Level 3).

"My plan has just come together. I activate a Quick-Play Spell, Spellbook of Organization!"

A Spell Card materialized onto Jun's field as three red tomes which were three volumes of a trilogy of information rose from the digital card with three red rings enclosing them.

Jun's deck began to glow red as well as he clarified the situation, "Every decent person who wields knowledge has to be able to plan properly a few steps in advance." The caped individual closed his eyes momentarily as he drew three cards and looked at them, "With this spell, I can put the top three cards of my deck in any order I choose."

It took Jun a few moments but he rearranged the top three cards in his preferred order as Yuushi started to get worried, _"That lets him set the pace for the next three of his turns. I'll have to try to throw him off his game plan then."_

The Spell Card triggered the effect of Magical Citadel of Endymion as another Spell Counter was indicated by the luminous central tower (Citadel SC: 5+1= 6). The caped duelist paid no attention as the tower wasn't the only thing lighting up. The cups held by Temperance of Prophecy started to leak out some sort of bright red fog which completely covered the monster. The red smoke covered Jun's monster completely until it disappeared.

This disappearance startled Yuushi, "Now what? Where did your monster go?"

Jun closed his eyes again, "At least you're curious. In my Main Phase, I activated a 'Spellbook' Spell Card so my monster's effect allows me to tribute it so that I can Special Summon a Level 5 or higher Light or Dark Spellcaster from my deck. However, I cannot Special Summon anymore Level 5 or higher monsters this turn. Show yourself! High Priestess of Prophecy!"

On Jun's command, the red haze vanished and another monster took Temperance of Prophecy's place. A pink-haired priestess with white and silver robes walked out of the red haze. She had no weapon on her but there was a clear aura of magic around her (ATK: 2500, Level 7).

Jun grabbed his Spellbook of Fate card from the graveyard and sent it to a different slot in his Duel Disk, "Additionally, I activate High Priestess of Prophecy's effect! Once per turn, by removing from play a 'Spellbook' Spell from my hand or graveyard, I can destroy a card on the field. Your alchemist stands no chance against this move!"

Next thing that happened, High Priestess of Prophecy put her palms out before moving both arms horizontally revealing a faded Spellbook of Fate. A screen of turquoise light that was taller and wider than her magically showed up in front of her. It was almost like a mirror as it was see-through before suddenly becoming opaque and reflecting Yuushi's monster. The image began to crack and shatter as Alchemist of Black Spells similarly became cracked before shattering as well.

"I still have my attack! Go, High Priestess of Prophecy! Attack Yuushi directly!", Jun commanded seeing as Yuushi had absolutely no defense left.

This time, High Priestess of Prophecy formed a turquoise light around her feet and began to levitate. She opened her palm as a turquoise orb formed in her palm. With a battle cry, she rapidly shot out the magical orbs at Yuushi causing explosions all around and blasting him back through the air onto his back. The smoke from the explosions clouded Yuushi's vision momentarily as a sharp pain built up around his legs and waist. His shoulders were in pain as well but he managed to slowly get up.

Yuushi- 1500 LP  
>Jun- 3100 LP<p>

Briefly, Yuushi staggered yet managed to recover as he panted heavily. _"He's good but I'm still not finished, not yet! Come on, deck."_

Jun saw Yuushi recover, "Then I'll end my turn!"

The high schooler was starting to get worried but at a time like this, there was nothing to do but go forward. "My turn, draw!"

With a quick swipe, he looked at the card he drew, "Now I can really get started. You were right in that I tend to scout things out and play safe before I go all-out. You wanted me to get serious, then I'll show you what this deck can do! I summon Magical Exemplar!"

The card materialized onto the field and afterwards, a turquoise-robed maiden emerged forth from the card as Yuushi prepared his next card (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"I activate the Equip Spell, Synchro Boost!"

The follow-up card appeared on the field and began to glow. Magical Exemplar was covered in a field of blue electricity surrounding her body (Exemplar ATK: 1700+500= 2200 ATK, Level 4+1= 5).

"When a card is equipped with Synchro Boost, it gains 500 ATK and an extra level. With another Spell in play, my Magical Citadel of Endymion gains another Spell Counter. Magical Exemplar also gains two Spell Counters from that Spell Card thanks to its own effect," exclaimed Yuushi.

Two orbs of white magical power formed and circled around Magical Exemplar (Exemplar SC: 2) and the central tower of the citadel was more than completely lit up once more (Citadel SC: 6+1= 7). On the other hand, since Endymion the Master Magician was removed from play by Spellbook of Fate previously, this powerful monster could not use its resurrection ability. Still, Yuushi had set the stage for another of his most powerful monsters to appear, his ace as a matter of fact.

"Congratulations on all those counters I suppose, but it won't help you at all. Endymion has already been neutralized. You've lost!", Jun announced with confidence.

Yuushi ignored him and continued, "I activate Magical Exemplar's monster effect! By removing its two Spell Counters, I can Special Summon a Level 2 Spellcaster from my hand or graveyard! From my hand, I Special Summon Night's End Sorcerer!"

The two Spell Counters around Magical Exemplar disappeared in a turquoise light as a bright flash lit up the around beside her (Exemplar SC: 0). The light started to form into an image of a monster wielding a golden scythe. Soon after, the light faded revealing the wielder to be a grey haired human with grey clothing and a dark blue tattered cape (ATK: 1300, Level 2 Tuner).

The scythe wielding Spellcaster-type monster raised up its golden scythe as Jun's graveyard began to glow as well as the cloaked person glanced down. Yuushi began to explain, "His effect can activate when he's Special Summoned! Right now, I can remove from play two cards in your graveyard and I'll choose Spellbook of Organization which leaves you no 'Spellbook' Spells in the graveyard and Temperance of Prophecy!"

Jun's graveyard returned to normal but was now missing the two named cards that Yuushi stated which by now had been moved to Jun's Remove From Play Zone.

The Spell Counter duelist raised up his arm into the air, "I tune the Level 2 Night's End Sorcerer to the now Level 5 Magical Exemplar!"

Both monsters phased into a different state as Night's End Sorcerer transformed into two green rings that flew into the air followed by Magical Exemplar transforming into five shining orbs which were surrounded by the green rings.

"A magician matched only in the mythic era! The illuminating force from the cosmic legends! Synchro Summon! Appear, Arcanite Magician!"

A light swallowed up the rings during the chant as Yuushi placed the Arcanite Magician card on his Duel Disk. The device reacted and a blue armored and blue haired Spellcaster Synchro monster made its presence known on the field. There was a green circle of glyphs at its feet at the monster began to gather energy (ATK: 400+1000+1000= 2400 ATK, Level 7).

His opponent looked on with a glance of surprise and awe yet also worry.

Yuushi's confidence was definitely high now, "You seem to know something about my Arcanite Magician but I know that you've never faced one directly. Well, now's your chance so get ready! Since you only have High Priestess of Prophecy on your side of the field, I'll remove a single Spell Counter and destroy that card. Normally since I lose a Spell Counter, my Arcanite Magician would also lose 1000 ATK with it but this is where the flexibility of my Field Spell shows itself. Once per turn, whenever a card on my field uses Spell Counters to pay for an effect, I can substitute the cost off my citadel. So instead, I'll activate Arcanite Magician's effect by removing a Spell Counter off Magical Citadel of Endymion."

The ace monster's staff began to give off a green light. The central tower of the citadel began to glow as a flurry of light fell from the tower and Arcanite Magician began to absorb the magic from the environment (Citadel SC: 7-1= 6).

"Go! Pulsar Wave!"

After a quick charge, Arcanite Magician swung its staff twice as two crescent waves were shot out from the staff cutting straight through High Priestess of Prophecy as it vanished off the field with a shriek.

"Now you're wide open for a Direct Attack! Starlight Horizon!"

Upon swiftly issuing the attack, Yuushi's monster raised up its staff as the tip began to glow with a green-blue shade. With a burst of energy, Arcanite Magician shot out a large green-blue sphere that smashed into Jun who was blasted back. The cloaked male defended himself with his forearm but when the smoke disappeared, the clothing covering the forearm was black and almost seared straight off revealing some bruises and burns caused by the attack on his arm.

Yuushi- 1500 LP  
>Jun- 700 LP<p>

"I'll place this down and that's it for me!"

A facedown Spell/Trap card digitized onto Yuushi's field as his turn ended.

Jun didn't start his turn for a while which made Yuushi wonder. On the other hand, Jun raised up his Duel Disk and stared at his graveyard before turning his eyes to Yuushi, "I have to give you some credit. That Arcanite Magician is pretty powerful. How long have you had it for? What has it done for you?"

Hearing him ask these questions outloud, Yuushi didn't say anything as his tone and volume of voice made Yuushi unclear whether he was just muttering outloud to himself or asking Yuushi himself these questions.

"Yuushi Sakudo, let's see what that card has meant to you. I want to expand my own view and see what your side of the story has to offer!," Jun decreed somewhat maniacally.

A blinding light shot out from Jun's graveyard as the light swallowed both the duelists, the citadel and even the area beyond. Yuushi was blinded and could barely make anything out when Arcanite Magician suddenly released a light from its staff as well. Out of nowhere, a massive shockwave erupted from the center of the battlefield extinguishing the illuminating light and knocking both duelists back several feet.

Jun was stumped since normally this would allow him to see into his opponent's past. It was a useful feature to see how much energy a duelist would put into the duel and how much they could siphon out at the end. However, it seemed something blocked the reading somehow. Shiho said it worked on her previous opponent and the only explanation Jun could come up with was that Arcanite Magician did something.

"That's never happened before. Hayato was right, that card certainly is like Koji's," Jun said to the side.

Yuushi wasn't following, "Wait, there's more people in this Nightfall group and this Koji person has a card like mine?!"

"You want me to repeat it slower for you. There's so much of the world you haven't seen. People like you just go on with life unaware of the things around you. You think because you have Arcanite Magician out that you're going to win. As a matter of fact, I've been setting up this turn from the beginning and I'm about to end this duel right now! It's my move now!", declared Jun.

The cloaked duelist drew a card and grabbed one of the three in his hand, "I summon Hermit of Prophecy!"

Rising out from the card was an elderly man with a long grey beard, He was wearing a purple robe encrusted with blue gems at certain parts along with magical runes in a similar fashion to most of Jun's other monsters. He was holding a large staff with a golden handle and golden jewelled tip (ATK: 1200, Level 3).

"I have plenty of 'Spellbook' Spell Cards left like my second Spellbook of Secrets!"

While Jun activated his Spellbook of Secrets, the frigid blue text appeared once more. Like before, the pages opened themselves up as a card known as Spellbook of Eternity flew into Jun's hand. The magical book also triggered Yuushi's central citadel as the tower lit up once more (Citadel SC: 6+1= 7). The runes around Hermit of Prophecy began to rotate and speed up with the hermit's staff (Hermit ATK: 1200+300= 1500 ATK, Level 3+2= 5).

"Similar to your Spell Counter cards, the Hermit of Prophecy gains 300 ATK and 2 Levels every time a 'Spellbook' Spell Card is placed," the caped person stated before grabbing the card he just received, "Now to actually play my Spellbook of Eternity. This card allows me the right to take one of my removed from play 'Spellbook' Spell Cards and add it straight to my hand. Just incase this duel drags on, I'll grab one of my Spellbook of Secrets for flexibility but it's doubtful."

A white and blue tome was raised from the ground as the locks on the book broke. Magical runes flew out as the pages opened revealing a Spellbook of Secrets which flew itself into Jun's hand. The runes around Hermit of Prophecy sped up even more now as the elderly individual gathered more magical power (Hermit ATK: 1500+300= 1800 ATK, Level 5+2= 7).

"Hahaha, during my Draw Phase though I had a good feeling I'd draw this powerful card. You could say I had a look into it," Jun said while chuckling.

Yuushi wasn't as amused or impressed, "Considering you used Spellbook of Organization to move it there, I'm pretty sure you'd know what you would draw."

Jun looked at the card, "Why not show it to you then. Take this! Monster Reborn! This card lets me bring back a monster from the graveyard and Special Summon it to my side of the field."

The card began to glow on the field as the High Priestess of Prophecy rose up once more as if nothing had happened. The white and silver cloth maiden stood on both feet and looked at Arcanite Magician for a second round of battle (ATK: 2500, Level 7).

"Time for some payback. Like how your monster has an effect to destroy cards, mine does as well except I have to remove from play a 'Spellbook' Spell from my grave. So get your vengeance, High Priestess of Prophecy!"

After Jun removed from play his Spellbook of Secrets from the grave, Jun's monster obliged as she raised up the mirror screen again but Yuushi had a surprise ready, "Reveal the Continuous Trap Card, Safe Zone!"

A teal colored sphere completely surrounded Arcanite Magician as the mirror was shattered but the sphere and Arcanite Magician remained unharmed as Yuushi sighed with relief, "Arcanite Magician cannot be destroyed or targeted by effects like your High Priestess's effect and my monster cannot be destroyed in battle."

The cloaked person nodded, "Indeed but I know that card that some extremely negative side-effects. For one thing Arcanite Magician cannot attack me directly and even worse, if either Safe Zone or Arcanite Magician is removed off the field, the other is automatically destroyed. More ignorant tactics, I see. But this card is the proof that your end has come, your own ignorance and ineptitude will be your loss!"

Yuushi was confused for a second since even if High Priestess battled, Safe Zone would keep his monster safe and Yuushi had more than enough Life Points to endure the after-effects. However, after looking at the other monster, Yuushi realized he might be in trouble.

"You have two Level 7 monsters!", the highschooler shouted.

Jun raised up his hand and smiled mischievously, "At least you're not that stupid. Too late now though! I overlay Level 7 High Priestess of Prophecy and Hermit of Prophecy!

High Priestess of Prophecy transformed into a shining yellow beam of light and Hermit of Prophecy transformed into a brown beam of light while a red portal opened in the center of the battlefield. Both beams were drawn into the portal which exploded outward.

"With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Herald of knowledge from the world beyond! Indulge forth the essence of enlightenment! Xyz Summon! My ultimate monster, Hierophant of Prophecy!"

A black and silver attire Spellcaster was summoned on Jun's call. On the Spellcaster's clothing were turquoise gems of magic. Not only that but the staff this human wielded and the crown on its head were heavily encrusted with silver and aquamarine crystals of magic. Around this monster were two dark purple spheres which indicated its Overlay Units available for disposal (ATK: 2800, Rank 7, OU: 2).

Jun looked over at Yuushi's Safe Zone, "You really thought that a single card could stop me? Delusion at its finest. Let me demonstrate Hierophant of Prophecy's effect! Once per turn, I can remove an Overlay Unit to destroy Spell and Trap Cards that you control up to the number of 'Spellbook' Spell Cards in my graveyard. I only have Spellbook of Eternity in the graveyard at the moment but that's all that's needed. Fire, Prophecy Ray!"

One of the dark purple Overlay Units flew into the hierophant's palm who then transformed it into a turquoise aura around its fist (Hierophant OU: 1). Jun's ace monster concentrated the energy onto its index finger and fired off a ray which struck the Safe Zone card and destroyed it. The containment sphere around Arcanite Magician began to fade as did Yuushi's own ace.

"You know what this means, your monster is now destroyed thanks to your own card!"

Yuushi couldn't say anything as he was shocked into silence while the Safe Zone destabilized and imploded upon itself taking Arcanite Magician with it. Jun was right. His own card that was suppose to be his saving grace ended up being his ruin. Yuushi scowled and opened his eyes widely in shock and disbelief.

Jun was now pointing as well, "Hierophant of Prophecy! Finish this imbecile with a Direct Attack! Obsidian Barrage!"

Despite the insult, Hierophant of Prophecy raised up its staff and shot a black-silver beam into the sky. Something was seen from above when suddenly, black-silver shards of magic rained down on Yuushi as they each exploded on contact destroying the area where Yuushi was at.

"_This can't be..."_, thought Yuushi weakly to himself.

The highschooler was blown back, rolling on the ground before skidding along unconsciously and stopping. Yuushi deck was scattered along the ground as Jun made his way over.

Yuushi- 0 LP  
>Jun- 700 LP- WIN<p>

Thus was the end of that brutal duel as the Magical Citadel of Endymion as well as anything related to the duel digitized away. Both duelists were back in the dark blue-black Iron Curtain void. Jun looked around and noticed the Arcanite Magician card but something was different this time after defeating a duelist. The caped figure's head was taken aback as he pulled out the Iron Curtain card he had slotted into his graveyard at the beginning to get them here.

"_Strange. According to this card, Yuushi Sakudo's energy was drained per usual from the memories and energy stored in his most powerful Duel Spirit, his ace Arcanite Magician. Yet it seems there's something about this card that prevents me from draining any more,"_ Jun contemplated. He glanced down at Yuushi and continued his train of thought, _"In any case, what's done is done. I've already gotten his energy which is what I came out here to do, so that's that."_

As the Iron Curtain dropped, Jun's cape fluttered in the wind as he disappeared along with the Iron Curtain leaving Yuushi's unconscious body in the park and the scattered cards nearby. Though the Arcanite Magician card and the rest of his deck was still there, what Yuushi hadn't realized was that he had changed.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 22 Preview<strong>

Ayumi: Yuushi, what happened out there? Something's not right about you after that.

Ryoko: He's probably just exhausted.

Ayumi: But that's not the Yuushi I know. There has to be something I can do.

Ryoko: You know him better than me.

Ayumi: Ever since we met four years ago...wait, that's it! Chapter 22: The Four Year Duel. Yuushi, it's my turn to help you now.


	23. Chapter 22: The Four Year Duel

The night when Yuushi dueled against Jun, his unconscious body had been found in the park about 20 minutes or so later by Dr. Hotake. This was in part thanks to the updated device he had with him that was tracing both Arcanite Magician and the Iron Curtain. Dr. Hotake had contacted Yuushi's father, Dr. Sakudo who was shocked that this had happened and was quick to worry. Eventually, Mr. Sakudo had to contact Yuushi's mother, Mrs. Sakudo and briefed her in on what happened. For the first day, Mrs. Sakudo quickly rushed over to take care of her son but her husband asked for her trust and ensured her that he would prioritize Yuushi's full recovery. Mrs. Sakudo was hesitant to leave but trusted her husband as she went back home though still worried. During this time, life in Heartland City continued and news of the Iron Curtain was more than just rumor now to many. While Yuushi was unconscious, he had two main visitors, Ayumi who showed up almost every day and Ryoko would show up with her too sometimes. They would also visit Hikaru too as he was still unconscious during this period.

A few days after the duel, class had ended and the two girls were walking down the halls of Delta Academy and were headed to the monorail to visit Yuushi as they had visited Hikaru the day before at Heartland Hospital. Class 1-D was uneasy as two of their students had fallen victim to the Iron Curtain but nevertheless showed their support.

"You think Yuushi's up now?", Ayumi asked Ryoko worriedly as they headed out the main doors of the school.

Ryoko sighed, "I hope so. Just what is going on in this city. First the rumors of Numbers and now this. Bad timing too considering the start of the World Duel Carnival."

On their way to the monorail, they noticed a few duelists already competing in the WDC as a large green cyborg with red laser eyes named Jinzo (ATK: 2400, Level 6) had just fired off a black sphere of lightning which collided with the opponent's flaming orange tiger who was appropriately named Flame Tiger (ATK: 1800, Level 4). The blast destroyed the monster as the duelist with Jinzo ended his turn.

The girls walked right past the duel as Ryoko looked at her friend, "Hey. Don't worry about this. Dr. Sakudo said Yuushi will be alright and I think he knows what he's talking about. I mean he does have a degree or something."

Ayumi looked up, "You're right. Yuushi's safe which is what really matters."

The group arrived at the nearest monorail station, got two tickets and headed off. Before heading on the monorail, Ayumi opened her D-Pad to see if their usual path was fine and indeed there was nothing posted about any obstructions or interference. After a series of transfers on the monorail, the girls were finally on the monorail that was closest to the lab as they approached the outskirts of Heartland City.

"You think Yuushi's dad and his team have found anything cool while we were away?" Ryoko asked.

Ayumi looked out the window, "Maybe but that would be a really quick discovery."

The brown-red haired girl shrugged, "You never know though. There might be something new."

After some time, the girls arrived at their destination and got off the monorail as they started to walk towards the lab. Shortly after that, they arrived at large lab and entered through the main automatic doors. They walked for another minute and soon approached a desk with a male clerk sitting at the computer. The clerk stopped typing for a moment as he realized that he had two people waiting on his attention.

"Can I help you girls?", the adult asked.

Ayumi was the first to speak up, "Hi, we're Yuushi's friends and we've come to visit him."

The male clerk looked at the two girls for a moment before asking another question, "Are you the girls who visited Yuushi last time?". The person quickly looked back at his computer for a moment as he brought up some files.

"Yuushi's a popular person isn't he," the clerk chuckled half-jokingly.

Ryoko nodded, "We were here a few days ago. I'm Ryoko and this is Ayumi."

"Hi girls, did you come to visit Dr. Sakudo's son again?", a voice from down the hall asked.

The voice belonged to Dr. Hotake who walked up to the desk as well. "I can vouch for them so you won't have to do any security measures."

With a nod, the clerk waved goodbye quickly before getting back to typing and continuing his work on the computer. After a beep, a light turned green by a side door which opened as Ayumi. Ryoko and Dr. Hotake walked through. They walked past a familiar route as Dr. Hotake suddenly snapped his fingers.

"I have some news though. Yuushi Sakudo is actually conscious and awake. One of the doctors reported that to us this morning," Dr. Hotake stated to the two girls.

Ayumi smiled and cheered, "That's great then. So does that mean that everything is fine now?"

Dr. Hotake hesitated for a moment, "Physically, he's doing fairly well. There's no report of things like bruises or damage so his body is fine. On the other hand, there is something strange about him."

"Why do you mean by that...," Ryoko commented nervously.

"There's just something that's not quite right. It's hard to put into words exactly but I think it's best that you see whether our diagnosis is accurate with your own eyes since you're Yuushi's friends," Dr. Hotake replied back.

Ayumi's mood was dampened upon hearing Dr. Hotake's skepticism as they continued down. In the hall, there were not too many scientists and researchers as they were all in a room below. Ryoko took a moment to look down the window to see the researchers staring at the same metal box with an engraved dragon's head. It was the box from the WRGP era and it still didn't look like much progress had been made since the box was still sealed. The three walked past that window until they approached another room and opened the door to Yuushi's room. The room itself had a plain bed with some chairs and desks around him. There were a few books and lights all enclosed inside a white wall. It was not quite as roomy or comfortable as something such as Hikaru's hospital room but this wasn't a hospital after all. Rather, the room seemed like a makeshift suite as the three saw Yuushi laying on the bed.

Dr. Hotake started to walk off, "I'll leave you two with Yuushi then. I'm sure you have some talking and other things to discuss. If you need me or anyone else, just give us a call."

As the adult walked off, the girls walked up to Yuushi. As far as Ayumi could tell, Yuushi seemed alright as he at least noticed the girls walking in and turned his attention to them.

"Yuushi, we heard that you just woke up today. How are you?" Ayumi asked first.

For a moment, Yuushi didn't answer and just sat up looking at the two, "Ayumi, how are things? And you are..."

The other girl seemed puzzled and tried to fill in, "Ryoko. You know...from Delta Academy..."

Yuushi tried to think about what he knew about Ryoko and felt that if Ayumi was with her, then she might be at least a decent person. "Alright, then."

Both girls began to suspect that something was wrong when another male adult entered the room. It was Yuushi's father, Dr. Sakudo, who greeted the two girls.

"Dr. Hotake told me that both of you would be here so I figured I'd come and see how everyone was doing," he said. "Hey, Yuushi."

"Hey, dad," Yuushi casually said back.

Ryoko shook her head, "Dr. Sakudo, did something happen? I mean Yuushi seems a bit off."

Dr. Sakudo nodded, "Yuushi said that it feels like he's missing something and that's definitely true. It's not exactly memory loss or anything since he can recall many events from the past. It's more like selective memory loss."

Ayumi was the one puzzled now, "What do you mean?"

Dr. Sakudo didn't say anything but rather went to a nearby desk and opened the drawer. Inside was a deck that he took out and showed everyone. The top card was Yuushi's Arcanite Magician and the rest of the cards comprised the rest of his deck.

The doctor drew three cards with Arcanite Magician being one of them, "Yuushi, what cards are these?"

The boy looked at them for a moment, "Maiden of Macabre, Ready for Intercepting and some white blank card."

Indeed, the first two cards were correct as the doctor explained, "Not only did this selective memory loss occur but the other strange part is that Yuushi only sees Arcanite Magician as a blank card. Every other card is fine except that one."

Ryoko remembered something, "Isn't that like the blank card incident?"

"It's similar. The veil known as the Iron Curtain is raised and the defeated duelists are stuck in an identical state as Yuushi. However, not only has Yuushi recovered faster but unlike those cases, he has no blank cards. According to him though, there is a blank card but everyone else can clearly see Arcanite Magician," Yuushi's father corrected before continuing, "From some of our other sources, it seems that the blank card is usually a card with significant value to the duelist. This can be an ace card or just one with great sentimental value. The inconsistency here is that normally the card is blank for everyone but in this case it's only blank for Yuushi. The selective memory though is a consistent factor."

Ayumi wondered something, "So what does he remember exactly?"

Dr. Sakudo sighed, "It seems like he has a good memory of anything that happened about two years ago but with anything closer and closer to today, things get worse. I mean he didn't even remember that the World Duel Carnival is going on now in Heartland City. Believe me, he was looking forward to that a lot."

"So was Hikaru. He talked about it so much during class and now...", sighed Ryoko.

Ayumi still couldn't fully believe this could happen as she looked at Yuushi and spoke up, "So what's the most strange or different thing that you can fully remember Yuushi?"

It seemed like an awkward question for Yuushi but he eventually responded, "Well other than going to Delta Academy, I had this strange other feeling. It was about two years ago and our fairly went camping. Actually I'm not sure why I said that. It wasn't the most exciting trip ever but I just had this awkward impulse to say it."

Hearing this story, the others recognized why Yuushi would say the camping trip as his dad interrupted for a moment, "Anything else you remember about that trip? Anything by a river perhaps?"

Yuushi pondered for a moment, "Well, I think mom fell in the river. That's about it."

"What about the WDC? The Delta Duel Monsters Tournament, anything like that?", Ryoko added on.

"Nope, not really. What are those?" Yuushi plainly stated.

Ryoko shook her head momentarily, "Come on, Yuushi. Those were Duel Monsters Tournaments that you were in. Hikaru and I were there too and Ayumi as well as Hikaru's sister Natsumi was cheering us on."

This time Yuushi shook his head, "Still not remembering..."

Ayumi looked on sadly, "Then...what do you know about Duel Monsters."

"I know a bit about it...not much though," the boy answered back.

Ryoko frowned, "Come on, you know more than 'just a bit'. I think you're pretty good."

"Well it didn't sound like I won or anything so what's was the point of me entering," Yuushi said looking a bit depressed

His father shook his head, "So what do you all think as his friends? I mean you see Yuushi every day."

A look of concern was over the girls' faces as Ryoko looked at Yuushi's father, "I think there's something off. He's not himself. The Yuushi I know wouldn't have worded his response quite like that."

Realizing that they were right, Ayumi couldn't take it anymore. Her best friend was just moping around and she was powerless as to what happened and why. However, enough was enough and she had to do something and there was only one thing she could think of, "Yuushi, then how about a duel? It'll be just like when we first met four years ago."

Yuushi looked at Ayumi but looked back down after hearing her challenge, "I'm not even sure I want to duel honestly. I already know what's going to happen. It'll be just like those duels before."

Hearing those words, Ayumi couldn't help but begin to raise her voice, "Now I know something's wrong! Sorry but I know that you would just jump at the chance to duel again, especially with what you told me after that duel. It's something I'll never forget! If you've forgotten it, then I'll remind you. When you fall, I'll be there to pick you up because that's what friends do. This isn't just for me but it'll help you too."

Now Ryoko was curious after hearing the dark brown haired girl's last statement, "So what happened in the duel back then?"

The black haired boy sighed with despair, " We dueled six times that day. She used many different decks and I only won one duel. If she can beat me back then, I think I'll just play it safe and spare my dignity. No matter what, she's going to win and I don't even know her strategy since she always changes her deck."

Ryoko was shocked, "She won nearly every duel then? I guess Ayumi was skilled even back then. If Yuushi's still dueling like then and Ayumi's had four years to improve..."

"So you're not going to duel me?," Ayumi plainly questioned.

Shrugging back, Yuushi fell back on his bed, "There's no point when the result is obvious."

Dr. Sakudo realized that this conversation would not be productive as he stepped in, "How about we just take a short break and we'll come back later? I need to check up on something and I'm sure you guys would want a drink."

Thinking back, Ryoko did see some vending machines on the way, "I'm getting a bit thirsty. I'll see you guys after then."

Ayumi agreed, "Then I'm taking a walk. I'll be back shortly though."

The three of them left and each went their own way for the time as Ayumi took a walk around the corner. She stopped in place and reached for a silver front card holder. Unlike her other holder for her other decks, this one contained only one deck that had been there for a long while now. She turned the deck over with one move and saw a Synchro Monster at the bottom. This monster was a Machine-type monster that seemed almost human with white armor and a staff in its hands.

She tightened her grip, _"If I go all out and try to win with this deck, it won't accomplish anything. Yuushi will probably use his Spell Counter deck and if it's just a repeat..."_

Suddenly an idea jolted through her mind, _"He will use that deck. That gives me an idea."_

Ayumi quickly ran back to Yuushi's room as the door opened. She was the only one other than Yuushi in the room as she smiled, "About that duel. Do the different and unknown really bother you that much?"

The boy looked back like he was insulted, "Of course. I have no idea what I'm dealing with and well, I don't like situations with things I can't deal with."

Although Ayumi knew Yuushi would be one of the last people to give up to the unknown, in his state that was an expected answer but now it was time for her idea to shine through, "How about if I use a deck you're familiar with? If it's unknown to you, then we can cancel the duel. Please..."

Yuushi looked at the girl who seemed like she would cry or was at least torn seeing him like this. Although he wasn't exactly sure why, her words sounded sincere and he wasn't the type of person to make a girl cry. That much he knew for sure, especially his best friend.

"Alright. If it'll make you happy, I suppose I can allow myself to try this but I'm out if I don't like it," he snapped back and then sighed deeply.

She nodded back, "I'll be back tomorrow for the duel then. I need to get ready."

* * *

><p>The next afternoon, Ayumi and Ryoko were on their way to the lab again and took the same route and monorail as yesterday. This time though, Ayumi had a different deck on her.<p>

"_If this deck doesn't convince him, then nothing will,"_ the girl contemplated deeply.

They entered the lab and passed by the hall with the window that allowed them to see inside the lab that contained the dragon's head box. Ryoko stared into Ayumi's eyes and knew that she was deep in thought and mental preparation.

"If anyone can do this, it would be his best friend. We're counting on you," Ryoko said trying to do what she could to encourage her.

Ayumi chuckled lightly, "Thank you for that. I'll do my best."

The girls entered a designated room and noticed Yuushi's father up in a booth, likely recording their progress. The only person technically in the room was Yuushi who had his Duel Disk ready. However from his stance and look, it didn't look like he wanted to be there. Nevertheless, Ayumi asked for a chance so she had to do what she could.

Trying to maintain a more positive facade, Ayumi loaded up her prepared deck and smiled, "Good luck and have fun, Yuushi!"

Yuushi muttered something unclear to himself as everyone had their D-Gazers activated and the two duelists readied their Duel Disks. The duel was almost ready with a stream of digital numbers appearing around the duel area.

"AR Vision, Link Complete."

With five cards in their hands, everyone's D-Gazers lit up momentarily and now there was only one thing left to do.

Ryoko stared at the two yet could do nothing but watch worriedly and whisper to herself, "I know that both of you can bring Yuushi back from whatever happened to him."

"Duel!"

Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Ayumi- 4000 LP<p>

Before Yuushi started he looked at Ayumi who seemed ready to go. On the other hand, he was still nervous inside and took a few deep breaths. _"What sort of deck is she using..."_

He was still unsure about all this but he promised Ayumi that he would try so he started the duel off, "Draw!"

After a brief moment, he grabbed a card, "I summon Defender the Magical Knight in ATK mode!"

A large magician with blue and gold armor sprung up from the digital card also wearing a purple and blue cape. Despite being a Spellcaster, this monster had a small but broad dagger and was in a defensive position holding out a giant blue and gold shield to act as its guard (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

"Defender's effect allows it to gain one Spell Counter when it's Normal Summoned and once per turn, if a Spellcaster would be destroyed either in battle or by a Magic or Trap Card, I can stop the destruction by removing a Spell Counter off this monster," Yuushi mentioned quickly.

In the center of the shield was an encrusted red gem which began to glow as the shield began to radiate a faint golden-red light (Defender SC: 1).

"That's it for me," Yuushi concluded.

Ryoko questioned that move, _"Yuushi has no facedowns at all and no defenses on the field. Unless he has something in his hand to help him, Ayumi can clearly see what he has out. Defender has a nice ability but will that be enough?"_

* * *

><p>Though Ayumi was paying attention to this duel somewhat, her mind started to drift off into a memory when she first met Yuushi around four years ago at a large park in Heartland City. During an afternoon, the young Yuushi decided to take a walk around the park. He went through the main paths and even past a few small playgrounds in the park. He was on his D-Pad telling his parents that he was alright as his mother was somewhat worried that her son was off alone. Luckily, the park wasn't too far and Yuushi could go as long as he messaged her every 30 minutes or so to let her know that he was fine. Eventually, he came across a clearing where there were a few kids dueling and he wanted to join in. With his Duel Disk ready, he looked around and saw that most people were already talking or dueling except for one girl just sitting with her back by the tree watching.<p>

"Want to have a duel?", Yuushi asked.

"No thanks," replied Ayumi.

"Come on, it'll be fun," the boy said while readying his Duel Disk.

"I suppose but I'm still trying things out," she insisted.

After some back and forth and heavy persistence on Yuushi's part, Ayumi caved in and decided to duel. Some time afterwards, she had a strange humanoid creature on the field that was almost dull white in colors but giving off a white glow.

"Attack!"

Ayumi declared the winning move as her monster charged forward and kicked Yuushi sending him flying back and dropping his Life Points to 0.

Despite that, Yuushi got up smiling and panted, "That was fun. You have time for another?"

The girl wanted to say no but there was something about him. Maybe it was the smile or attitude but she figured it couldn't hurt now that she had already started to duel, "Alright but let me change up my deck."

After a shrug, Yuushi thought it would be fine as the girl quickly changed up her deck and another duel had begun between the two.

* * *

><p>Back to the present, Ayumi had drawn a card to start her turn, "My turn! This card should be familiar to you Yuushi. I summon Magical Exemplar!"<p>

This time it was Ayumi's Spellcaster that came out. This female had dark green hair with long sleeved bright turquoise robes. She had jewelry on her wrists, forehead and neck which gave off a small but bright glow (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"This card look familiar Yuushi?!", challenged Ayumi.

"Yeah. Does that mean you're using a Spellcaster deck?" Yuushi questioned wanting to know a bit more.

The girl nodded, "I said I'd use something that's familiar."

Yuushi looked on and he felt confident that if Ayumi was using a Spellcaster deck, he had the advantage. A majority of his dueling experience was with Spellcasters so he knew more possible combinations and overall information including stats and abilities.

"Is it a Spell Counter deck?" he asked once more.

This time Ayumi grabbed a card, "Yuushi, you told me a few things a long time ago. It was just after you won a duel against me that day..."

* * *

><p>Back in the park, the two younger duelists were in their third duel. Ayumi had already won the first two relatively easy and although this duel was a bit tougher, she had a powerful sphere of lighting crash into Yuushi for another victory.<p>

The girl deactivated her D-Gazer and walked up to Yuushi, "I don't think another duel will benefit either of us."

The boy was surprised, "What do you mean?! A real duelist always presses on. I mean you beat me a few times but that's no reason to stop if we're having fun."

Ayumi thought about her response for a moment and sighed, "It doesn't matter either way. I'm not sure why we would want to continue since I'll likely win the next duel."

"You seem a bit bored. How about another but if you win, I'll buy you something," Yuushi interrupted while raising the stakes.

At that moment, the girl wondered why that boy would continue on. In her mind, she concluded that her deck was more balanced and her overall skill was higher. Regardless, it wasn't the prospect of potential free stuff that got her to try again but rather it was something else. That being the boy's perseverance.

On Ayumi's side of the field was a large bulky bronze colored golem and on Yuushi side of the field was Magical Marionette.

Yuushi had no cards in his hand and his hand started to shake. There was only one Spell that could save him which would allow him to use Magial Marionette's effect which was needed to win the duel.

"I draw!"

He swiftly swiped off the top card of his deck and it was Spell Power Grasp, the exact perfect Spell Card. After activating that card to give Magial Marionette two Spell Counters for it's ability, he was indeed able to attack and win.

Yuushi shouted, "Alright! That's my win then! Finally!"

Still a bit stunned from that out-of-nowhere turnaround, Ayumi couldn't help but feel good for Yuushi. Normally, a duelist with a weaker field and no cards in their hand shouldn't be able to achieve a win like that but it happened right in front of her eyes. She had to ask something, "You didn't know what you would draw or how this duel would go so why did you just charge in like that?"

Yuushi grinned, "I don't know. I wasn't going to get anywhere just sitting around losing so I just moved forward. Right now, I'm sort of thinking about my future a few years down the road. I'm still not sure exactly what's in the future but there's one thing I do know...the future's coming and I'd rather enjoy it than be worried."

* * *

><p>Once again in the present, Ayumi was about to continue her move.<p>

"You told me to breakthrough the unknown and then your own path will change and form. In those years, I've seen and been through a lot. I might not be as talented in information and knowledge as you but here's my answer! The Spell Card, Dark World Dealings!"

As the Spell Card appeared on the field, Ryoko was caught off guard, _"That's not a card in Yuushi's deck? Did she put her own spin on something based off Yuushi's deck?"_

The female duelist explained, "That card lets both of us draw a card and then discard a card in our hands afterwards."

The two of them both drew a card and Yuushi sent Maiden of Macabre to his graveyard while Ayumi sent Night's End Sorcerer to her graveyard.

Looking up, everyone saw Magical Exemplar begin to gather power as two bright white spheres formed around Magical Exemplar (SC: 2) and Ayumi looked at Yuushi, "This is something I've seen you do a lot. I activated a Spell Card so my monster gains two Spell Counters and I can remove both of them to Special Summon a Spellcaster in my grave that is Level 2. Revive, Night's End Sorcerer."

On the girl's call, the two Spell Counters expanded outwards before imploding on themselves releasing a flash of light. A grey haired and grey clothed male with a large gold scythe emerged from the flash. With a swing of his arm, his dark blue tattered cape was brushed aside (ATK: 1300, Level 2 Tuner).

"Night's End Sorcerer's effect activates when it's Special Summoned. I can remove from play up to two cards in your graveyard, Yuushi. Since you only have one, I'll remove that from play."

As she said that, the lone Maiden of Macabre card in Yuushi's graveyard popped out and the boy deposited it in the Remove From Play area of the Duel Disk.

"I might not have an Arcanite Magician but I have another Synchro Monster to use. Now I'm going to tune my Level 2 Night's End Sorcerer to my Level 4 Magical Exemplar!"

The tuner monster leaped into the air before transforming into two green rings which aligned themselves onto Magical Exemplar who by this time had also jumped into the air. The Level 4 Monster faded into a golden outline of its former self before dispersing into four bright orbs.

"Synchro Summon! Appear forth, Tempest Magician!"

As the Synchro Summon finished, a new female Spellcaster descended down and landed on Ayumi's side of the field. Just like her previous tuner, this monster had a large scythe as black as her hair. Her elegant dark blue long-sleeved wizard's robe was large enough to nearly cover her whole body as she slammed the handle of the scythe into the ground (ATK: 2200, Level 6). After a brief quake, the scythe began to shine and glow as a golden mystical light surrounded Ayumi's monster (SC: 1)

"This card has a special effect too. Since this was just Synchro Summoned, it gains a Spell Counter. However, I'll use my monster's other effect which allows me to not only use my Spell Counters but yours as well," Ayumi stated while looking on.

The aura was redirected (SC: 0) to the scythe which changed from black to a dark silver shine as the now silver scythe was grabbed onto using both hands from Tempest Magician. Raising the weapon up, Defender's shield reacted to it by losing its golden-red light which was absorbed (Defender SC: 1-1= 0) into the scythe as the Synchro Monster prepared to swing her weapon.

Ayumi began to go into more detail, "I can remove all Spell Counters on the field using her effect to deal 500 damage to you for each one. With two Spell Counters gone, that means you take 1000 damage! Here it comes!"

The Synchro Monster shouted as a magical circle formed beneath Yuushi's feet and released a silver radiance. After being engulfed by the light, Yuushi staggered back as he felt his body being shaken and momentarily stunned.

Yuushi- 3000 LP  
>Ayumi- 4000 LP<p>

After his body shook from the attack, he panted but recovered fairly quickly.

On the side, Ryoko knew that the last effect did more than just damage as she analyzed the move to herself, _"Not only did Ayumi deal a decent amount of damage but she destroyed Yuushi's defense. Defender's defending ability is certainly very safe but it needs a Spell Counter to activate it in the first place. With no Spell Counters, it's just a regular 1600 ATK monster which in this case isn't good."_

"Sorry about this but...Tempest Magician, attack Defender now!", Ayumi continued a bit worried about Yuushi.

This time, Tempest Magician dove forward and raised up its scythe and an instant later, Yuushi's own Spellcaster was slashed in half as Defender exploded into particles of light.

Yuushi- 2400 LP  
>Ayumi- 4000 LP<p>

She swung her arm and motioned to her opponent, "Let's see what you got, Yuushi!"

The male duelist was still shocked at the last turn. The defensive plan he had was taken down so easily. Though he was familiar with Spellcasters, he didn't expect Ayumi to take such a varied route to Spell Counters. Yuushi realized that he was quickly going to get out of his comfort zone as the duel continued. Regardless, before he knew it, his hand was already at his Duel Disk about to draw.

"_Why is my body reacting like this...I should surrender this duel since I'm so behind. And yet...and yet, my arms are shaking. It's not fear that's causing me to shake but then, just what is it?", _he pondered to himself.

He closed his eyes and opened them again and not wanting to keep Ayumi waiting, he started his turn. "Then it's my turn! Hah!"

Yuushi was still doubtful but looked over the field again then back at his hand, _"I have Magician's Circle but that gives both of us monsters so I probably shouldn't use that. Actually, I think I can do something now. I hope this works."_

"Now to activate the Spell Card, Shield and Sword. The original ATK and DEF values of all current faceup monsters is switched until the End Phase."

A mysterious force shook the battlefield causing an invisible tremor which Tempest Magician had to defend against while she blurred momentarily before the force subsided. However, things were different now as the AR Vision had indicated (Tempest ATK: 1400 ATK).

That monster was certainly now much weaker, enough for a lower levelled monster to take down such as the one Yuushi reached for, "Next I summon my own monster, Breaker the Magical Warrior!"

Similar to Yuushi's previous monster, this Spellcaster had a smaller red and gold shield with a blue gem encrusted in the center. The shield's colors matched the plated robe, cape and wizard hat that covered this monster. On the other hand, the weapon this warrior was wielding was a medium-sized dark silver sword. If Defender was the shield, then Breaker would be its sword counterpart (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

"Just like Breaker, when I Normal Summon this card, it gains a Spell Counter. Furthermore, for each Spell Counter on Breaker, he gains an extra 300 ATK!", the boy shouted out.

Sure enough, the blue gem began to glow as Breaker emitted a battle cry, glared at the opposing Spellcaster and prepared to charge (Breaker ATK: 1600+300= 1900 ATK, SC: 1).

Yuushi wasn't about to order any attacks before doing something else, "One more thing to add! For more ATK, I activate Solidarity!

The Continuous Spell card materialized onto the battlefield as Yuushi went into detail, "Since I only have a single type of monster in my graveyard, all faceup monsters I control with that type gain 800 ATK. Since a Spellcaster is in my graveyard, my Spellcasters all get this boost."

Breaker was infused with the power of this Continuous Spell and now giving off a faint green aura as it powered up (Breaker ATK: 1900+800= 2700 ATK).

"Go, Breaker! Attack!"

Hearing the boy's command, Breaker charged forward and swung its sword down on Ayumi's monster. The sword clashed against the scythe but with a second quick swing, Breaker slashed through Tempest Magician who faded into particles of light. The slash caused Ayumi to stand her ground as a minor shockwave hit her but she managed to stay standing on both feet.

Yuushi- 2400 LP  
>Ayumi- 2700 LP<p>

"After that attack, turn end!"

Ryoko was getting nervous as she began to move around the battlefield. She approached Ayumi from behind and could see her hand. The spectator girl was wishing that her friends would be alright and prayed for their success.

With that turn being finished, Ayumi's turn started as she was about to draw, "That's good but I'm not finished yet! Draw!"

She drew her card and stared at her hand, _"Here it is."_

"To start, Flelf will be Normal Summoned! Appear!," Ayumi announced while sliding a card onto her Duel Disk.

As soon as the card was placed, a winter blue light shined around the area and a blonde long haired elf with a longsword leaped forward. She was wearing green and white armor but there was a mysterious vibration as the monster was covered in a large blue cape (ATK: 800, Level 2).

"With this card on my field, I'll use its effect," the girl told everyone as she revealed the monster Gagaga Magician in her hand, "Since Gagaga Magician is a Level 4 Monster, Flelf lets me reveal it from my hand so that it gains 4 Levels."

The winter aura exploded from under the monster's feet as Flelf concentrated before the glow was now a permanent feature (Flelf Level: 2+4= 6).

"Secondly, the Magic Card, Double Summon will be activated from my hand!"

The card appeared on the field and had an image of a female warrior in blue armor who seemingly summoned another monster by calling a flash of lightning from the sky. Just as the card had portrayed, a field of lightning struck beside Flelf who stayed surprisingly calm during all this.

Everyone noticed the beam of lightning before Ayumi went on, "Ordinarily, you can only perform a Normal Summon once per turn but this card lets me Normal Summon another monster. I'll take this chance to Normal Summon Gagaga Magician!"

This Spellcaster was another mysterious figure wearing black and orange robes and wizard's hat that covered everything except the eyes. Around Gagaga Magician's shoulders and waist was a chain that seemed almost like an accessory (ATK: 1500, Level 4).

"Gagaga Magician also has a Level altering monster effect. This monster can be any Level from 1 to 8 until the End Phase so I'll make it the same Level as my Flelf, a Level 6 monster," Ayumi commented.

After a brief battle cry, four Level Stars appeared over Gagaga Magician and after a brief sound, two more Level Stars expanded outward (Gagaga Level: 6).

Sensing something coming, Ryoko examined the field, _"Ayumi has two Level 6 Monsters, is she going for an Xyz Summon?"_

To everyone's shock, both monsters on Ayumi's field dispersed into golden particles as Ayumi quickly revealed another card in her hand, "I tribute Flelf and Gagaga Magician for this card! Special Summon!"

The one who stepped back was Yuushi as he widened his eyes realizing something was different, "Wait a minute, this isn't an Xyz Summon at all!"

A blinding yellow circle of magic appeared on the ground as a black-orange pillar of light shot out from the circle.

"Shattering the boundaries of magic through strength and will! I call forth, Sorcerer of Dark Magic!"

Bolts of lightning fell from the sky before a gust shot through the battlefield. From the pillar of light, a black cape blew in the winds as a human figure with black robes and armor walked forward out of the pillar. The sorcerer had an orange-red glow and wielded an ancient dark green staff which was surging with white lightning (ATK: 3200, Level 9).

Everyone was speechless, especially Yuushi who had never seen or heard of this monster which was disadvantageous considering its staggering ATK value.

"Sorcerer of Dark Magic cannot be Normal Summon and I can only Special Summon it by Tributing 2 level 6 or higher Spellcasters. I'll even tell you its effect in advance since we're best friends. If a Trap Card is activated, this card can negate and destroy it," she explained.

Ryoko was spectating, _"Without Arcanite Magician, the only card in Yuushi's deck that could stand up to Sorcerer of Dark Magic is Endymion but that card isn't going to be summoned anytime soon. None of his monsters have quite the brute strength to take down that monster either. How did Ayumi get that card though? Cards that powerful and rare are only for people who have at least won somewhat important Duel Monsters tournaments."_

This was definitely unfamiliar territory for Yuushi who was staring down the black magician.

"Go! Celestial Black Burning attack!"

Ayumi's Spellcaster pointed its staff forward as a purple glow surrounded the staff. After a brief moment of charging, a purple beam was shot out. The beam smashed into Breaker's shield but soon enough, the beam went through Yuushi's buffed-up monster and hit Yuushi who was blown back.

Yuushi- 1900 LP  
>Ayumi- 2700 LP<p>

Noticing the knockback, Ayumi was worried but the black-haired boy stood up.

She sighed with relief as she grabbed the last card in her hand, "I'll place this down and that's it!"

Although Yuushi got up, he felt practically defeated. With a monster that high in attack, he had no possible cards that could defeat it. He closed his eyes and wanted to collapse but he just rolled his head and closed his eyes. Finally he shook his head and sighed as his body began to get heavy.

Hearing his depressed sigh, Ayumi spoke up, "Do you remember what happened after our last duel four years ago?"

Yuushi tried to remember but all he could recall was a fuzzy blur of jumbled events and he stared at the girl silently and shook his head in denial.

"Then I'll tell you."

* * *

><p>Despite Yuushi's previous win in the park, the next few duels were in Ayumi's favor as she won the rest of them even with swapped out decks.<p>

"You up for another?", Yuushi asked.

Hearing his question, Ayumi was the one in awe, "Do you see something I don't? I mean you don't know what's up ahead so what's the point of going on when there's always a chance of disaster as you continue. Right now, there's so many choices for me that I don't know which one is the right one. That's why I didn't want to duel in the first place...but I'm glad I did. You have some sort of strange drive."

Yuushi was the one surprised, "It doesn't seem that strange to me. Knowing what is right sounds hard. I don't think anyone knows what will be right. However, life just moves on and like you, I see a lot of choices in front of me and more out there. All I can do is move on, breakthrough and expand my views to see what's really right for me. That's all there is to it."

* * *

><p>Back to the lab Ayumi desperately pleaded, "So come on, Yuushi! If anything, just try to remember that feeling! It might be one-sided and you don't know what's coming up but just sitting there is doesn't help! Just breakthrough!"<p>

The girl's plea was starting to get through, _"She's trying so hard. It might be one-sided but I have to do something about that...with my own hands. There's always that possibility and if not, I suppose I'll just breakthrough and make my own path."_

Another feeling flowed through his body and he began to recall a few things. First was the time with his friends at Delta Academy, second the Numbers incident at Heartland Mall, then the duels in front of Delta Academy, to the start of the whole Iron Curtain incident, moving onto the free-for-all duel with his friends and finally his duel with Jun.

From the first card drawn to the final move, the bonds he made with the friends he had. He could clearly remember them all. There were a few one-sided duels along with victories and defeats. Yuushi was panting but stopped not only because his heart felt lighter and he also felt comforted. There was something indescribable that he felt was missing inside that he had regained. Just now, there was some sort of excitement and wonder as he moved through his memories. For a while, he forgot about his worries and even where they were. His father was closely monitoring the duel but the boy didn't really seem to notice or mind.

"You're a great duelist! Thanks for helping me," he told Ayumi.

The girl blushed briefly and then smiled as she felt something similar four years ago. She looked deep in his eyes and could tell that something was different now. Not only was Ayumi in a relaxed state but Yuushi was starting to feel truly comfortable too. In the next moment, a shining card slotted out from his Duel Disk and as the glow faded, it revealed itself. Dr. Sakudo was watching and even he knew that Yuushi had regained himself again. By this time Ryoko had circled around to get a closer look at the shining card and was standing behind Yuushi now.

"_Arcanite Magician..."_

Regardless, the boy was in the middle of the duel, "It's my turn now! Draw!"

Yuushi quickly glanced at the card, _"It's here!"_

"I discard Magician's Circle from my hand to Special Summon The Tricky!", Yuushi stated.

A blue wind swept through the room as a strange black and yellow clothed jester flew in and landed. The strange monster had red question marks on its mask and chest along with a blue cape (ATK: 2000+800= 2800 ATK, Level 5).

Feeling the momentum shift in his favor, Yuushi carried out the next part of his turn, "I summon out Frequency Magician as well!"

A monster emerged with the appearance of a purple-caped human wearing a large white hat. Minor soundwaves accompanied this monster with the source of the waves coming from special gauntlets on the Spellcaster's hands (ATK: 800+800= 1600 ATK, Level 2 Tuner, SC: 1).

The stage was set as Yuushi raised up and arm and called out, "Even though Solidarity gives both my monsters an extra 800 ATK and Frequency Magician gains a Spell Counter when it's Normal Summoned, I can't win this turn even with the other card in my hand. That's why I need to go one step further! Time to tune my Level 2 Frequency Magician with my Level 5 The Tricky!"

Frequency Magician was turned into two green rings while The Tricky had teleported itself up in the air. The green rings surrounded the other monster who by now had been converted into five shining orbs.

"A magician matched only in the mythic era! The illuminating force from the cosmic legends! Synchro Summon! Appear, Arcanite Magician!"

Yuushi took the shining card and placed it on his Duel Disk and on the battlefield, a blast of light erupted forward. A green circle of magic appeared and levitated slightly above the ground and next, a blue Spellcaster with a green wand jumped through the magic portal. Arcanite Magician had a blue horned helmet and an armor which seemed to be made of a material that was a hybrid of cloth and metal (ATK: 400, Level 7).

Though initially, the monster had low ATK, that was not the case as Yuushi said to his opponent, "Arcanite Magician gains two Spell Counters when it's Synchro Summoned and 1000 ATK for each one. Not only that but it's a Spellcaster so Solidarity's effect further gives it ATK."

The ace monster began to glow green and confirmed Yuushi's statements as a surge of power flowed through the monster (ATK: 400+1000+1000+800= 3200 ATK, SC: 2).

"_Now both their monsters have the same ATK but still...,"_ Ryoko remarked to herself.

Yuushi played the last card in his hand, "Now I activate the Equip Spell, One-Shot Wand, which gives Arcanite Magician an extra 800 ATK!"

The staff that Yuushi's monster was holding disappeared and in it's place was a half-lunar tipped, black and gold wand which emitted a green and golden light (Arcanite ATK: 3200+800= 4000 ATK).

The Spellcaster duelist pointed to Sorcerer of Dark Magic, "I still remember Arcanite Magician's effect and thanks to that, I can still destroy your monster no matter the ATK points of my Synchro. By removing a Spell Counter from my monster, he can automatically destroy any card on your field! Pulsar Wave!"

Arcanite Magician nodded and with two swings of its staff, two green crescents of magical energy shot out (Arcanite ATK: 4000-1000= 3000 ATK, SC: 2-1= 1). Ayumi's Sorcerer of Dark Magic raised a defensive barrier which the first crescent shattered followed by the second crescent that sliced her monster who disappeared off the field. Ryoko watched the exchange with awe as she and Ayumi both knew that Yuushi was definitely back to his old self. After that effect, Yuushi took a quick glance at Ayumi's last facedown and sighed heavily.

"_That facedown is worrying me but I knew that I'd have to take some risks. Playing it safe it good but that alone won't get me anywhere. If I let this duel continue, who knows what she'll get next so I have to end this now!",_ Yuushi thought to himself before commanding his monster, "Now that your field has no monsters, Arcanite Magician can finish the duel up with Starlight Horizon!"

The Synchro Monster formed a green-blue sphere of magical energy on the tip of its staff before launching it forward. With no monsters on the field, Ayumi gazed momentarily at her facedown. The attack came closer and closer as she braced herself. Her eyes widened and with a thunderous blast, the girl was sent flying back as she started to skid along the floor before opening her eyes and falling to one knee exhausted.

Yuushi- 1900 LP- WIN  
>Ayumi- 0 LP<p>

The final buzzer sounded and data and images began to fade which transported the two duelists back to the lab. Ayumi had recovered by that time and smiled as Yuushi walked up to her. She got up and looked him in the eye as Yuushi expressed his gratitude, "Thanks for helping me again. I must have been pretty frustrating to work with."

Ayumi seemed happy herself, "No problem. That's what friends do, right?"

The door to the room opened as Yuushi's father walked in and Ryoko soon walked up as the four of them met in the center of the room.

"Awesome job, you two," Ryoko winked with a thumbs up.

Noticing that Arcanite Magician was still glowing after all this time, Dr. Sakudo was intrigued, "Yuushi, Arcanite Magician is still in that strange form. Do you know why? I know I got a few readings and some of them were abnormal. For instance..."

Dr. Sakudo was about to elaborate further when suddenly, a few other scientists and researchers ran through the door and up to the doctor.

"Doctor, we need you down in Room 2-B," one of them said almost out of breath.

"What happened?", the doctor asked curiously.

The scientists panted, "It's the...the dragon head box, it's finally open!"

Yuushi's father was taken aback and his eyes widened as he nodded, "Alright, I'll be right there!"

Hearing the news, the adults all sprinted through the door all thinking about what to do next after they looked inside the box

On the other hand, the highschoolers were standing still but that was about to change as Yuushi felt something strange coming from his ace monster, "It seems as if Arcanite Magician is pulling me forward. No doubt about it, it wants to follow my father and his colleagues too."

Without another word, Yuushi ran off as Ayumi shouted, "Hey! Wait for us!"

Before she could move though, her hand was grabbed by Ryoko who suddenly made a move for her Duel Disk. The girl took out Ayumi's facedown in an instant and looked at it before commenting, "I thought so. This card, why didn't you play it? Magic Cylinder would have turned the whole duel around."

Ayumi viewed the Trap Card in question. She knew that Ryoko was correct as Magic Cylinder's effect would have allowed her to redirect Arcanite Magician's attack back at Yuushi. The boy had to take a gamble in order to end the duel since if Arcanite Magician used its effect and lost 1000 ATK to get rid of this card, the duel would continue and Yuushi would have a weakened monster in play with nothing to support his monster or even himself for any upcoming turns.

This was a possibility she considered during the final turn but she put away her Duel Disk and took back her card before replying, "The important thing is that Yuushi is alright now."

It was a blunt and plain answer but Ryoko accepted it as she thought that Ayumi was correct. If Yuushi was fine, then that was good enough to her. Besides, she was also interested in this box as Ryoko thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She nodded to Ayumi before taking off.

The last person in the room was Ayumi who stared at her deck and Duel Disk before putting it away. Regardless, she was in a deep state of thought herself, _"I might have been able to help Yuushi but those words I said, I couldn't put all my heart and soul in them. It might make me a bit of a hypocrite but he's alright now. To put yourself out there and to breakthrough and see the world around you without fear. I threw myself over that wall and that was a challenge but the bigger threat comes from what lies beyond that wall. Going ahead and seeing what was in the world and the path I took...filled me with nothing but emptiness. Yuushi, just be careful on the path you take but maybe, just maybe you have that special something that'll make it alright for you. That mix of that special something and your perseverance and attitude is what I admire about you."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 23 Preview<strong>

Ryoko: Now that we settled that, let's go see what's in that box. A lot of people are already there.

Ayumi: It has to be something exciting for sure if there's so many people interested in it.

Yuushi: Speaking of interest, I heard Hikaru's back up.

Ryoko: I hope he'll be fine. Maybe that familiar person can help him as well.

Yuushi: I know he will be. Chapter 23: A Spirit Reborn.


	24. Chapter 23: A Spirit Reborn

**Alright, that sure took longer than I thought to return. Long story short there was a lot of work, projects, exams, etc. I should be back now and able to update at a regular pace now. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

><p>At the lab, Yuushi, Ayumi, Ryoko were following Yuushi's father, Dr. Sakudo as well as Dr. Hotake. From what the other scientists in the lab had said, it appeared as if the box with the dragon head had just opened and people were starting to gather around it.<p>

"What do you think is inside?," Yuushi asked curiously.

Ryoko was the one ahead, "Only one way to find out for sure, right?"

Furthermore, Yuushi's ace monster, Arcanite Magician was causing his Duel Disk to illuminate as the highschoolers entered Room 2-B. Inside, Dr. Sakudo and Dr. Hotake along with other scientists were standing in a circle. There was a glow in the center of the room that seemed to react to something. The light from Yuushi's card got stronger as the other scientists took notice. Arcanite Magician was seemingly pulling towards the stone-colored box as Yuushi took the card out of the Duel Disk. The others were in awe as the boy continued toward the box with the dragon's head staring right at him.

"Doctor, are you sure this is alright?", a scientist asked Yuushi's father.

"Honestly, I have no idea. If anything happens though, I'll jump in and put a stop to it," Dr. Sakudo said with a nod to his son.

Yuushi knew he had his family and his friends' support as he was now inches away from the dragon head box. Reaching out, Yuushi could feel an indescribable, powerful presence inside as he opened the lid. The box was lighter than it appeared and as the lid was fully opened, the light from both the box and Arcanite Magician faded.

Ayumi couldn't hold back her anxiety, "So Yuushi, what's inside?!"

For a moment, Yuushi couldn't answer the question as the inside of the box was still faintly illuminated by a golden light. After a few seconds, the light completely faded as he realized that there were some Duel Monsters cards inside. Specifically, the inside of the box had crevices and indents where various cards were placed surrounded by thin radiant turquoise beams which lined the inside of the box. There was one card in particular though that his hand seemed drawn to as Arcanite Magician started to send a strange pulse through him.

Upon closer inspection, the boy was shocked as he realized that was he drawn to a shining blank white card. Before he could say anything further though, the blank white card was then coated in golden particles which then disappeared, revealing an effect monster card.

"_What card is this...,"_ Yuushi thought to himself trying to see if he recognized it.

The golden particles surrounded the inside of the box as others began to look inside as well. There were various Monster, Spell and Trap Cards contained within as Yuushi pulled his head back giving everyone a chance to examine the contents.

Dr. Sakudo was reminded of the manuscript that came with the box as he recited it, "Upon a threat's arrival, to those deemed worthy, will receive the power of evolution which defeated the Machine Emperors."

Pulling out a small device, Dr. Hotake was the next to comment as he looked over a few of the cards, "I can certainly see how the Machine Emperors wouldn't work on cards like these. They are Synchro Killers and many of these cards are not only non-Synchros but can work around their effects."

The highschoolers really didn't have any idea what Dr. Hotake was saying as Ryoko looked inside, "So what do you think that threat is? The Iron Curtain?"

There was a brief silence in the room.

"Perhaps," another scientist commented. "These two incidents seem pretty correlated but you never know. We'll need to do a closer examination of all this."

Suddenly, Ayumi's D-Pad started to flash as she walked out into the hallway with Yuushi and Ryoko following her closely.

"Who is it?," asked Yuushi.

Ayumi smiled, "It's Natsumi. She has news about Hikaru."

With a hit of a button on the side of her D-Pad, an image of the young girl appeared in front of the trio. She appeared to be in some sort of white-walled hallway as the digital image of her finished rendering.

"How's everyone?", Natsumi wondered.

"Not bad. We were in the middle of seeing something," Ryoko answered back.

Natsumi smiled suddenly, "Let me just tell you something really good that just happened. My brother woke up about an hour ago and my parents are on the way to visit him. We'll all be in the same room and hopefully everyone will be happier!"

"That's great news," replied Yuushi who was happy that Hikaru was now up.

Just as a smile came, a look of worry shadowed her eyes, "Although...something doesn't seem right with Hikaru."

The highschoolers had a feeling what it was but Ayumi asked anyways, "What do you mean by that?"

The young blue-black haired girl sighed, "It's just that. Well...Hikaru's acting sort of weird. He's not as energetic as usual. It seems like all the energy and spirit been drained from him. I talked to him but I don't know what to do now..."

Natsumi started to nod while Ayumi's expression changed, "Natsumi, do whatever you can to cheer him up. Anything at all."

Yuushi nodded, "I know he likes to duel so maybe duel him or let him watch some pro duels. Maybe take him out to his favorite restaurants or a walk in the park or a theme park. Something like that."

"Maybe he wants to stop at home and watch some movies," Ryoko added on with her own suggestions.

"Hmm...alright, I'll try some of those things. Thanks for the help guys. My parents are here so I'll talk to you all later," Natsumi told the others before looking to the side and the call ended.

The three went back into the room as the scientists were now examining something before Yuushi's father walked over to him, "Yuushi, do you mind if I see Arcanite Magician for a second."

Reaching and grabbing the card from his deck, the short black haired boy and everyone else noticed that once again, Arcanite Magician glowed for an instant as the card that Yuushi's father was holding began to glow in resonance.

"Yuushi, I think that we need to do more research and that you should be the one to use these cards," the scientist stated.

"Why me, dad?," the boy said puzzled.

Dr. Sakudo motioned for his son to come as he held both cards in his hand and began to explain his reasoning, "It seems to me that this card has some connection to Arcanite Magician since they appear to be very similar. Not only that but there are many cards here to support this new card in my hand. Furthermore, the box opened itself during the duel when you regained your senses. This could all be mere coincidence but I think it's more of a sign that something we have yet to comprehend is happening which is related to the Iron Curtain."

Ayumi also saw the cards. In Dr. Sakudo's left hand was Arcanite Magician which seemed perfectly normal or at least as normal as it could be. On the other hand, his right hand had another card that looked just like Arcanite Magician except with red and black armor instead of the usual blue armor. Everyone agreed that the resemblance was definitely strong.

"Do you think that's enough of a threat as what the manuscript had stated?," the girl said.

"I'm not sure," Dr. Sakudo said before looking at his son, "I have a favor to ask."

The first year boy was puzzled, "What is it?"

With some hesitation, the scientist continued, "There's a lot of unanswered questions and with this Pandora's Box opened up, I'm not sure what exactly will happen. However, I have a feeling that these cards might play a role in what will come. Arcanite Magician in particular I believe is a piece of this puzzle. Would you mind coming over after school for a few days so that we can have a closer look? As things stand, I think it's best that we consider that you use these cards. These cards definitely have some sort of reaction around you. It's almost like the cards chose you."

Now it was Yuushi's turn to hesitate but he quickly nodded, "I don't mind that at all. Besides, I want to see what this is all about for myself."

"If you're using those cards, you're going to rebuild your deck then?", Ryoko questioned.

Dr. Hotake was the one to answer after some careful consideration, "Probably. However, I believe that the cards from this box should be restricted to the lab for the time being. Yuushi can use them whenever and wherever he wants inside the lab. When he leaves, the cards should be returned back to the box."

Another scientist nodded back, "Agreed. Who knows what could happen if these cards fell into the wrong hands? What could be unleashed, what unknowns could be brought out and maybe even the damage this could do to the city."

"Do you mind if we come too? We already sort of know about all this and I want to see what might happen," wondered Ryoko.

"That should be fine but whatever you see here has to remain here. Like the cards, we need more information and facts before jumping to any conclusions about what this all means," Dr. Sakudo mentioned after some careful consideration.

Yuushi chuckled lightly, "Well, that's a lot of pressure but I think this will work out. Hopefully..."

During all this, Ayumi was listening and heard everything but felt that she could do something to help Yuushi out. She might not be the one using these cards but she walked over to Yuushi with a familiar deck in her hands. Yuushi looked down and noticed that the top card was Sorcerer of Dark Magic.

"If you're going to try a new deck, then why don't you use some of my cards. I mean you might as well use everything you can," she said with some embarrassment.

Yuushi stuttered, "But...those cards are pretty powerful. I can't just take them from you."

The dark brown hair girl interrupted, "It's fine. I have other decks to work with so don't worry about it. Just think of it this way. If you ever need the strength to stand or you're doubting yourself, just remember this day and a part of my spirit will always be watching over you to remind you. It sounds a bit corny but..."

After that sentence, Ayumi began to mutter to herself rapidly and Yuushi could tell she was nervous as he put his hands on her deck, "When you put it that way. It's not as corny as it sounds. Alright thanks. I'll be sure not to let those feelings go to waste."

With his strength renewed, Yuushi resolved to do whatever he could to make sure that his spirit would never waver and would stand strong. If his feelings were to fall, it wouldn't just affect him but his friends and family as well. Not only for himself but for those closest to him, he would resolve this whole Iron Curtain incident before it got any worse. He couldn't explain why, but he could feel Arcanite Magician behind him warning him about the threat in the manuscript. Whether the threat was the Iron Curtain or blank cards or something else, Yuushi wanted to investigate and get to the bottom of it all once and for all.

* * *

><p>A day passed since the dragon head box opened and Delta Academy had just finished all its classes as the final bell rung and echoed throughout the classrooms and hallways. Yuushi, Ayumi and Ryoko met up in front of the school and began to head out to the lab. Dr. Sakudo called his son and reminded him to meet in the lab in order to help examine the contents and manuscript of the dragon head box. Everyone in Class 1-D was happy to see Yuushi with many people asking him what it was like to be in that coma-like state and what exactly happened. The Spellcaster duelist replied with typical answers trying to avoid giving out too much information. In all this though, Yuushi couldn't help but remember an empty seat in his class belonging to another friend who was going through the same thing.<p>

"_Hikaru...," _Yuushi sighed to himself.

Normally, he'd visit but he did promise his father that he would help him out. Yuushi and the girls were concerned about Hikaru but at lunch, they messaged Natsumi who promised that everything was under control and that she would call or message them if she needed help. While Yuushi would normally be concerned, Hikaru had one of the brightest and fiery spirits he had ever seen. Having too many people at this delicate time might do more harm than good by overwhelming the boy so Yuushi hoped that Hikaru would recover soon as the trio boarded a monorail.

* * *

><p>At Heartland Hospital, Natsumi was also worried as Hikaru was slumped over. Both their parents had recently just left Hikaru's room and were either heading to work or resting after working. Since yesterday, she definitely knew that her brother had changed and not for the better. Hikaru had mostly been sighing to himself and looking out the window. Though he remembered his family, not much else was really the same. The doctors already said that a strange shift in personality was common for those found in the blank card incident. The main problem though was that there was no known cure for it so far. Natsumi had wanted to call Hikaru's friends for help as she looked at her D-Pad<p>

"_No, I can't just keep calling for help. Mom and dad have done enough to help already. Our family can deal with this and we don't need to bother anymore people. They've already done enough for us. I can't just sit around anymore. Our family's depending on me and I won't let them down."_

She opened her mouth and started to talk, "So do you have anything on your mind? Do you know what you're going to do now? You still have classes and stuff."

"Yeah, but what can I do like this? I can't remember half the stuff that I think I'm suppose to which means I messed up pretty bad. With such weak strength, I failed protect you, mom, dad or anyone else I care about. I don't even see this one card in my deck unless I was stupid enough to use a blank white card in a duel," replied Hikaru with a defeated sigh.

The boy held up his card that seemed perfectly normal to Natsumi. It was the one card that she thought would be the last card that Hikaru would forget about. If his Laval Stennon was apparently blank or at least unrecognizable to Hikaru's eyes, then she knew that the situation was bad.

Hikaru continued, "How did I end up like this anyway? Can you tell me that?"

His little sister jumped in to answer, "I'm pretty sure you were in a duel inside some curtain thing. The results said that you lost the duel and then when the curtain was gone, you were unconscious on the ground with your deck scattered all around. You were taken to the hospital and that's it."

"I did my best but I still really let everyone down. I'm sorry," sighed Hikaru as he laid back down onto the bed.

Natsumi tried to cheer her brother up, "Nobody is expected to win all the time. After you get knocked down, you have to rise up twice as fast. That's what you told me!"

Hikaru seemed unphased by Natsumi, "So I really did lose after all."

Not knowing what to do or say next, Natsumi remembered what Hikaru's friends had said. She needed something to cheer him up or to get his spirit back. It would have to be pretty important since he's been like this for a day now, not wanting to go to school or even really leave this hospital room. The problem was that although Hikaru was medically clear to leave, he didn't want to budge so their parents paid the extra fee to have Hikaru stay for another day or so.

"_Hikaru's new attitude is really worrying me,"_ she contemplated.

She had to find something fast so Natsumi began to look around the hospital room for some ideas. The bed and sheets wasn't going to help, her brother's deck seemed to remind him of something but that alone wouldn't be enough, a few pictures, a food tray. She turned her eyes and her head and noticed a white curtain covering window with an open blind. Looking down though, Natsumi saw a few duelists in the distance as she activated her D-Gazer. There were a few duels taking place with all sorts of effects, attacks and cards being played.

As one duelist started her turn, Natsumi gasped to herself and had a sudden revelation about what to do. She called to Hikaru, "It must get pretty boring here. How about we head outside for some food or something? Hospital food isn't bad but I'll take you to a real restaurant."

The high school boy closed his eyes and sighed depressingly but Natsumi pressed on, "For me...please?"

Seeing his sister plead like that, Hikaru didn't have the heart to say no as he started to get off his bed, "Let me just change. My body seems fine so I guess I can head out for a bit.

"Alright! You'll see that it's better than sitting and sleeping here all day!"

Firstly, Natsumi left the room and then Hikaru changed into his regular brown shirt and dark red pants. Next, he left his room and headed down an elevator with his sister. With a ding, the elevator reached the main floor as they headed out the doors. The noise reminded Natsumi of a hotel elevator which is sort of what the hospital was now. Since Hikaru refused to leave, their family was practically only paying the hospital for an overpriced and mediocre room.

The streets of Heartland City were as crowded as ever with people walking around, window shopping, browsing stores, driving by in modes of transportation among other things.

"Hey, brother! Put your D-Gazer on!," requested Natsumi.

"Alright...," he said hesitantly.

Slowly putting on his D-Gazer, the duelist world opened up to the siblings as a winged statue monster flew past the two. At another field, some sort of basketball monster leaped into the air.

Hikaru turned his head, "Is this place always so busy?"

"Come on! Don't you remember! The World Duel Carnival! I mean you signed up it and you wouldn't stop talking about it and how you'll win! Don't tell me you forgot!", the girl exclaimed with shock.

To be honest, the boy had no idea what his sister was talking about. Despite that though, they walked into an open grassy field to observe some of the duels going on. They walked by a bench where they noticed another pair of brothers watching an ongoing duel. Hikaru took notice of one of the duelists who seemed very familiar to him. He felt a strong pull to the duel building up within him but he was confused as to why.

"Victory is mine! Dreadeye First Mate, direct attack!," the familiar light brown haired duelist shouted out.

The ghostly pirate shouted with courage as he brandished out both swords and in a brief moment, the pirate was behind the opposing duelist who fell to his knees as the duel ended.

It took a while for Natsumi to recognize the duelist but she knew who he was now. The winner of that duel walked up to his opponent and after a brief exchange, the opponent handed the Dreadeye duelist something that resembled a fragmented piece of a ruby colored gem. The opponent left the area as the Dreadeye duelist followed up by taking out a very thin heart-shaped container as he put the fragmented piece into the heart container which was about half way completed.

Natsumi wanted to greet him but she felt a bit out of place. Regardless, the Dreadeye duelist scouted the area until he noticed Hikaru and Natsumi and chuckled before making his way over to the siblings.

"So Hikaru, what did you think of that?!," Masaki proudly stated.

The boy took a step back, "Um. I'm not really sure what to say..."

With another grin, Masaki put his Duel Disk forward, "So you here for a match? Don't worry I know you were in a coma during the registration so you don't have a Heart Piece. That's alright though, I accept duels from true duelists anytime!"

The first-year student was uncomfortable, "I don't want to ruin your good luck or anything, so how about another time?"

"A duel sounds like fun," Natsumi suggested for her brother trying to encourage him, "You love to duel so show him your fiery spirit!"

Even Masaki could feel that something was wrong, "Did anything happen? I did hear that people who get put through that curtain get some sort of weird side-effect."

Normally, Natsumi wouldn't say anything about it but he knew that this person was a duelist that Hikaru faced and could remind him of the type of duels that his brother loved. She began to speak, "Actually, he just woke up yesterday and has been acting like this ever since."

The second year student seemed concerned, "I see. Well then, that's all the reason to duel me. Whether some sort of coma side-effect or just depression, I'll snap him out of it. Besides, a rematch since the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament would be interesting."

"Duel you?", Hikaru said confused.

Masaki already got his deck ready as he held it in his hands, "The duelist who faced me in the finals back then wouldn't be able to let himself ignore a duel like this. I promise I've gotten better since then so I'm looking forward to seeing how much you've improved."

"So what sort of duelist was I?", asked Hikaru with curiosity.

Chuckling to himself, Masaki answered, "I know that you're a duelist with a first-rate Laval deck. That Laval Stennon against Captain Dreadeye was the highlight of the finals."

"I guess that really was in my deck," the other boy said slowly.

The Dreadeye duelist was confused as Natsumi explained the context of that statement, "According to my brother, he sees Laval Stennon as a blank white card while everyone else sees it as a normal card."

"Can I see it?" asked the older boy.

Hikaru complied and pulled out the Laval Stennon card. Sure enough to Masaki, it seemed perfectly normal. "Nothing wrong to me," he plainly stated.

The siblings were silent as Masaki could tell that they weren't playing a joke on them or anything. If this really is what happened, there had to be someway to fix it.

"_There has to be something. To be honest, I've been looking forward to this for a while. Though I won in the end, it was a duel for the ages. I took away a great bounty but the real prize was the duel itself. Prize...that card...might as well try,"_ the light browned haired duelist schemed before requesting out loud, "Might if I see your deck then? There might be something here that can help."

The blue-black haired highschooler couldn't see anything wrong with that as he let Masaki take a look at his Laval deck. Masaki pretended to flip through his deck until both Hikaru and Natsumi turned their backs.

"_If what he told me was true..."_, Masaki thought to himself, _"...then this might help out a bit."_

In a single motion, he reached into his pocket and took out a few cards. The third card down was the card he was looking for as he quickly snuck the card into the Laval deck and handed it back. "Everything seems alright here. So come on already, let's have a good old fashioned duel. You'll have fun."

"I guess...it couldn't hurt. Even if I lose, it's not like I'll fail," the boy said hesitantly.

"So that's the problem? You're scared to fail?," asked Masaki.

Hikaru closed his eyes, "Of course. The last time I failed, I let everyone down. My family and friends and myself. It's because of my mistake that everyone is like this. Since I messed up, everything I know has went away."

Natsumi was almost speechless, "That's not...your fault."

"Come on, a duel will get your mind off that. I can be pretty persistent and I won't back off until I get the rematch I've been waiting for. My calls will get annoying, you know. Besides you have nothing to lose and everything to gain," Masaki said trying to persuade Hikaru.

Natsumi looked over at Hikaru who didn't respond as he tried to think about what to do next. His silence really began to annoy his sister as Natsumi spoke up, "Please! Come on! You'll have fun. I promise! Like Masaki said, you have nothing to lose in this duel."

"What if I lose? You'll just be even more disappointed in me," mumbled Hikaru.

The young girl couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Whether you win or lose, I'll still be cheering you on. I won't ever be disappointed in you since you're my awesome brother!"

Hearing that comforted Hikaru. While he was afraid of failure now, not dueling this opponent would disappoint Natsumi. That meant that he would be a failure as a brother and he couldn't afford anything like that. Ace monster or not, Natsumi's words pushed him forward as he got his Duel Disk ready.

"That's the spirit!," encouraged Masaki.

As both duelists prepared their decks, their D-Gazers activated bringing them to the AR Vision world. The decks finished shuffling and now there was only one thing left to do.

"Let's duel!"

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Masaki- 4000 LP<p>

Both duelists had five cards in their hands but Masaki spoke up, "I'll let you have the first move then."

Hikaru's body seemed to respond before he even knew it as he drew the top card on his deck and added it to his hand. Looking through his hand, there was one card in particular that swelled his heart momentarily. He couldn't quite figure out why but there was one card which resonated with him like the blank white card.

"_This card..."_

From behind, Natsumi's eyes widened with worry as her brother had no Trap Cards in his hand but then was temporarily confused after seeing the same card that Hikaru was staring at, _"I've seen that card before. Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys...Dad said that was one of his greatest treasures. How did brother __get one of those..."_

Though the brother was worried, he saw Natsumi staring at him and sensed some worry as he put on a facade. He didn't exactly want to duel but at Natsumi's request he did and now wasn't the time to worry about his feelings. All that mattered was to put a strong show for his sister so he could try to make up for what he had lost.

"I summon Laval Magma Cannoneer!"

With a red flash of light, a portal opened up in the ground as a large blue suited individual emerged forward. The two cannons of stone and magma whirred as the first monster of the duel appeared (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

Grabbing two cards in the blue-black haired duelist's hand, another Laval Magma Cannoneer and a Laval Lancelord, he deposited them into the graveyard slot of his Duel Disk.

Laval Magma Cannoneer prepared to fire as the cannons on its shoulders started to radiate a red light as Hikaru explained, "My monster's effect lets me send a Fire monster from my hand to the grave to deal 500 points of damage to you. Even better, I can do it twice per turn and since I did, that's 1000 points of damage on my very first turn."

Sure enough, the cannoneer fired off two searing streams of energy that exploded around Masaki as he braced himself for impact. The explosion and cloud of virtual smoke cleared as Masaki opened his eyes slowly.

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Masaki- 3000 LP<p>

"That's all for me," Hikaru calmly said hoping that initial offense impressed Natsumi.

For the young girl, she was indeed happy seeing Hikaru start off with one of his favorite opening moves. It was one that gave her Hikaru a nice headstart in terms of Life Points. Hopefully, it would help her brother light up his spirit and get him back to normal

Masaki grinned, "Haha, that brings back some memories. You used the same opening move at the Delta Duel Monsters finals. Come on, you have to remember that."

After a moment of silence and thought, Hikaru plainly answered back, "No, I really don't..."

"Fine, then I guess you need a wake-up call! I draw!," his opponent shouted before swiftly placing a face-up card on his duel disk, "Now I'll summon Dreadeye Swashbuckler!"

On Masaki's side, a monster materialized in a bright light. This monster was a pirate with a red short- sleeved vest and black pants. With a grin, the pirate pulled out its weapon, a large curved scimitar as the monster swung twice for an intimidation factor (ATK: 1800, Level 4).

Without any hesitation, Masaki announced his next move, "Battle!"

With a leap, the Dreadeye monster quickly closed the gap between the two monsters as Laval Magma Cannoneer was surprised before it was sliced in two as Hikaru's Life Points took a minor hit.

Hikaru- 3900 LP  
>Masaki- 3000 LP<p>

"Now for my monster's effect!," Masaki shouted as he grabbed a card in his hand, "Whenever Dreadeye Swashbuckler destroys your monster in battle and sends it to the graveyard, I can send a card from my hand to the graveyard as well and then draw a card."

As stated, Masaki sent the held card to the graveyard as he drew a card. Suddenly, a burst of dark purple light shot out from the brown haired duelist's Duel Disk.

"Since I just sent my Navigator straight from my hand to the grave, its effect allows me to Special Summon it right away!"

On the field, an undead pirate was called out from the depths as everyone could see a telescope tucked away by the monster's waist (ATK: 1200, Level 3).

Masaki pointed at Hikaru, "Since it's still my Battle Phase and you have no monsters, my Navigator can move in!"

A dagger magically formed as Masaki's monster grabbed it and quickly threw the small weapon all in one motion as the dagger shot through Hikaru causing him to fall to one knee momentarily.

Hikaru- 2700 LP  
>Masaki- 3000 LP<p>

"Brother!", Natsumi shouted out with concern. _"It might look a bit rough since Hikaru's sort of out of it but I know he'll turn it around. Like Hikaru told me once, to be a pro duelist takes perseverance and spirit so that's all he needs now, I hope."_

"Not finished yet!", his opponent shouted as a Continuous Spell Card was played which blanketed and obscured Masaki's side of the field in a layer of darkness as white and purple mist kicked up. "For now, the Veil of Darkness Spell has no effect but that'll change soon enough. I'll set this one card down and it's back to you."

In the dark fog beside the Veil of Darkness card, another set card digitized signalling the end of Masaki's turn.

"Come on, show me what you have!", the Dreadeye duelist challenged with a tone of disappointment, "You're not acting like the duelist that I wanted to face! Where's the person who showed that crowd at Delta his fiery passion?! What's the matter?!" the brown haired duelist yelled loudly.

With all the confusion and doubt in Hikaru's mind, the last he wanted to hear was criticism as he continued on. "Fine! Then I draw!"

Again, his body and mind was telling the older brother something about the Sacred Phoenix of Nephthyscard in his hand. Even though he couldn't play that card, he had an answer for the cards on his opponent's field as he played the card he just drew. "Spirit of Flames can be Special Summoned by banishing a Fire Monster from my grave. Just need to remove Laval Lancelord...," Hikaru said as the card was ejected from the graveyard slot, "...and summon my monster!"

A wall of fire briefly coated a small area by Hikaru's side of the field as an angry, flaming humanoid dispersed the flames and landed on the ground (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"There's another monster as well! Laval Gunner!"

Placing the card on the Duel Disk, the AR Vision rendered the monster's form. This Laval monster appeared to be a less bulky golem wearing a metal suit of armor with two metal wristbands each having a molten cannon attached to it (ATK: 1200, Level 4).

"Now for my Gunner's effect. I'll send five cards from the top of my deck to the grave and for each 'Laval' I send, this card gains an extra 200 ATK."

Hikaru picked the top five cards in his deck and smiled with excitement. He drew Laval Lady of the Burning Lake, Laval Judgment Lord, another Laval Lady, Blast With Chain and Laval Cannon. With four Lavals, Laval Gunner roared triumphantly as the monster was surrounded with a red-orange glow signalling an ATK increase (Gunner ATK: 1200+200+200+200+200= 2000 ATK).

"Now I'm going to battle and I'll use Spirit of Flames's effect. During my Battle Phase, this card gains 300 ATK so that its attack is equal to my Gunner's ATK! Those extra points will be great in blowing up your Navigator!"

A brief red aura of heat surrounded Spirit of Flames as the monster put its arms forward (Spirit ATK: 1700+300= 2000 ATK). With a roar, two streams of lava were launched out, incinerating the pirate monster along with its telescope. The stream continued through the dark veil and temporarily lit up the field as Masaki closed his eyes in a defensive position.

Hikaru- 2700 LP  
>Masaki- 2200 LP<p>

Hikaru pointed towards Masaki's remaining monster, "My Laval Gunner has its own ATK boost too and it'll attack your last monster!"

Dreadeye Swashbuckler charged forward as Laval Gunner took a brief moment to aim. In the next instant, two shots were fired off from the Laval monster's wrist cannons that created an explosion on contact. As the smoke disappeared, the only thing remaining was a pile of ashes that was blown away by the wind.

Hikaru- 2700 LP  
>Masaki- 2000 LP<p>

"Turn end!," the boy replied and left his two Laval monsters on the field. With that, the fiery aura around Spirit of Flames vanished as the monster returned to normal (Spirit ATK: 2000-3000= 1700 ATK).

On the other hand, Masaki was confused for a moment but didn't show it on his face, _"What? He left both Level 4 monsters at the end of his turn and didn't go for a Rank 4 Xyz Summon. That's strange."_

Now that Hikaru had a slight lead, Natsumi was in a slightly happier mood but the main problem persisted as she could only watch and hope for the best.

"_I suppose having two monsters rather than one now is just to boost my brother's defenses. That other __guy will need two attacks to go through both those Lavals. Still, I know my brother and he'll snap out of this. I just know it!",_ she cheered to herself.

Hikaru muttered loudly, "Just one more turn like this and I'll win!"

"Why in such a hurry to end the duel? I thought you'd want to enjoy the duel a bit more...or is it the other way and you're scared and want this to end as fast as possible before something unexpected happens?!", retorted Masaki.

The other highschooler gritted his teeth momentarily but quietly countered, "No...it's nothing like that. Nothing like that."

Masaki placed his hand on his Duel Disk, "Who are you trying to convince with a tone like that? Me or your sister? I'm not buying that and I doubt she is either. Matter of fact, I don't think you're even convincing yourself! But onto this duel, you might have the advantage now but just one card is all it takes for fortune to smile upon someone"

The Dreadeye Duelist quickly drew a card as the black mist on his side of the field became stronger as the wind picked up. Through the mist, an image of a card started to form through the haze becoming recognizable to both the spectating siblings before it vanished into the darkness.

"Since I just drew a Dark monster, Dreadeye Spirit, my Veil of Darkness lets me send it to the graveyard to draw another card!", clarified Masaki before drawing another card as the Veil of Darkness started to fade. "That's all for my Continuous Spell this turn. Now for a different Spell Card, the Book of Life!"

A green card appeared on the field as a mostly-green tome with an ancient Egyptian-like front cover complete with hieroglyphs was summoned out and levitated upwards in mid-air. The book radiated a golden light as it began to shine outwards even lighting up the dark veil temporarily.

Masaki told the others what was happening, "Seems the light of fortune favors me now. With this card,

I'll Special Summon back a Zombie-Type monster from my grave back to the field and banish a monster from yours. Give cheers to my Dreadeye Spirit and down goes your Laval Judgment Lord."

The Book of Life disappeared into particles of light which converged together and formed Masaki's Dreadeye Spirit. The armored and bony monster's eye sockets lit up with a turquoise-purple glow as its skull lit up in flames (ATK: 2400, Level 6).

From earlier in the duel, a Dreadeye Swashbuckler and a Dreadeye Navigator card from Masaki's graveyard popped out from his Duel Disk as he continued, "Dreadeye Spirit's effect activates since it got Special Summoned from the grave. Since there were two other 'Dreadeye' monsters in my grave, I can banish my Dreadeye Navigator to call out my Dreadeye Swashbuckler. However, the monster Special Summoned by this effect has to be placed in face-up DEF mode and its effects are negated."

The Level 6 Dreadeye monster raised up both its arms which glowed with an eerie purple light that could be seen through the dark veil. The field shook lightly as a crack formed on Masaki's field before the crack shattered and Dreadeye Swashbuckler jumped out and landed on one knee with its sword up to guard itself (DEF: 500, Level 4).

Glancing at his hand, Masaki decided to play it safe. Since he had no monsters other than Dreadeye Spirit that could defeat either his opponent's Laval Gunner or Spirit of Flames, he announced out loud, "I'll set this monster down."

As a horizontal card materialized beside the other Dreadeyes, Masaki pointed towards Laval Gunner, "I attack Laval Gunner with Dreadeye Spirit!"

On his command, Dreadeye Spirit's hands glowed with a purple power as the monster continued to concentrate. As the Dreadeye monster's power reached its peak, it roared out and raised its arms when the ground below Laval Gunner shook and shattered as the monster was engulfed in a purple pillar of magical power. The resulting blast shook the area as Hikaru was knocked off balance onto his back.

Hikaru- 2300 LP  
>Masaki- 2000 LP<p>

Another card appeared face-down beside Masaki's Veil of Darkness Continuous Spell, "Just need to set the card I just earlier and now it's over to you!"

It didn't take a skilled duelist to know that Masaki had the advantage. His Life Points might have been lower but his field had three cards in both the Monster and Spell/Trap Zone with Hikaru only had a lone monster on his side. Hikaru looked at his hand and he only had one monster which was Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys and a Spell Card. Since Sacred Phoenix can't be played without two tributes, he functionally had no monsters meaning that if he doesn't draw one during this turn, he would be defenseless.

Hikaru sighed and stared at the ground for a moment before silently putting his hand on his Duel Disk and trying to take it off.

Masaki realized what was happening and shouted loudly, "Hey! What are you do think you're doing? A duelist doesn't just quit in a tough spot! Of all perople, a skilled duelist like yourself should know that!"

This stopped Hikaru as he clenched his fists and fired back, "What do you know?! You know nothing! How would you like it if you just woke up in some hospital with a feeling of despair and regret that would not go away?! I knew a few things and my soul told me I had let myself and everyone around me down with just one defeat that I put all my spirit into! I'd rather just quit than go through something like that again!"

With a brief cut-in, Masaki looked on, "A defeat you say? Not just in dueling but people out there put everything into their lives and in some cases for many years of their time. Of course it doesn't always work out and in life or dueling, defeats are inevitable. I've lost my fair share of duels especially to Reiji Sikiri at Delta. I wanted to enter the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament to see if there were any like him and so that I could challenge myself again. There I had found that there were many powerful duelists like yourself and I was satisfied to meet them all. I'm sure even those people had regrets when they lost but they are still trying. They are still persevering and I know they'll all be stronger the next time I see them."

Hikaru stopped moving and closed his eyes, "Well then, I suppose I'm even a disappointment to you. I remember than I dueled because I had passion and skill for it. I wasn't the best in school and couldn't get competitive grades so dueling was all I had. Without the spirit to duel, I'm nothing but a disappointment"

Hearing this, Hikaru's sister yelled out, "Hikaru...brother, this isn't like you. The old you would never quit in the middle of a duel like this!"

"But when I lose, I'll just let you down even more than I already have. I've been dueling like a failure," he quietly spoke.

Now Natsumi was the one fired up, "That doesn't matter. To me, your friends or even mom or dad, it doesn't matter. Sometimes you mess up but that happens to everyone, yet...yet you never give up. We're proud of you for that no matter what happens. So if you really don't want to disappoint me and most importantly yourself, you'll keep on trying no matter what!"

Hikaru wasn't sure how to answer as he closed his eyes, "I...but..." was all he could mutter out. At this point, he would have quit already but seeing Natsumi watching over him, something inside him was telling him that he had to go on. Though there was still doubt in him, something else was surging forward.

Masaki chuckled, "She might be young but your sister speaks true and hardened words."

Now Hikaru was smiling, "I don't know what it is but now's not the time to worry. You're right, Natsumi. If that's how it is, if that's how you really feel, then I have nothing to lose."

The Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys card emitted a faint red glow that strengthened as Hikaru and his deck began to glow as well. In an instant, his memories returned from starting the year at Delta to his defeat at Shiori's hands. He still had problems he wanted to address but now wasn't the time, now it was his time to show Masaki his strength. The two observers watched on as the light faded before Hikaru declared the start of his turn, "My turn!"

He quickly looked at the card he drew and it was Laval Burner. It was just the card he needed to make the most of his hand. Rather than being amazed or taking a moment to nod, something like his spirit told him that he would draw the card he needed as he quickly started to play it, "Since I have three different 'Lavals' in my graveyard, I can Special Summon this card!"

With a loud roar, the large ferocious brown rock-skinned monster appeared as its hair and mane lit on fire before its large metal gauntlets flared up as well (ATK: 2100, Level 5).

Now the Laval duelist grabbed a card in his hand and raised it up, "Ancient avian of death and rebirth. Shine from the burning ashes once more and flare up your blazing soul! I'll tribute my monsters to Tribute Summon Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!"

The fiery aura surrounded the Monster Card as it was slammed onto Hikaru's Duel Disk. A fiery image of a bird-like monster appeared above the battlefield dimming the field red. The phoenix descended as the flames surrounding its body vanished showing its golden form. With its fiery wings and mane, the monster shrieked ready for battle (ATK: 2400, Level 8).

Even Hikaru's opponent looked on in awe seeing the monster as he prepared for the inevitable attack.

"I'm not really sure what this card is doing in my deck but now's the time to use it!" the Laval duelist shouted out before grabbing the last card in his hand, "Now for a nice boost from Big Bang Shot!"

Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys ascended into the skies as its whole body was encased in several layers of black and red flames and even the air became wavy and distorted while a heat wave seared the ground below (Phoenix ATK: 2400+400= 2800 ATK).

"Here's some news for you Masaki, Big Bang Shot's secondary effect lets me inflict piercing damage which means that even though your monster is in DEF mode, you'll still take a lot of damage and with just 500 DEF, you won't be able to survive this attack! Now attack Dreadeye Swashbuckler with Flames of Reckoning!"

Natsumi was excited, "Now you can win with this ultimate attack!"

Masaki knew that as well as he started to stand his ground with worry and anxiety as the monster began to dive downward with intense speed and ferocity. The pirate looked up and just like Masaki, the swashbuckler began to firmly plant its feet. The phoenix swiftly dove into Dreadeye Swashbuckler as the area exploded into red flames as the phoenix emerged unscathed and flew back over to Hikaru's side of the field. Natsumi covered herself from the sudden blast of dust and smoke. Suddenly, Hikaru gasped to himself as did Natsumi when they noticed a revealed card on Masaki's side of the field.

Hikaru- 2300 LP  
>Masaki- 400 LP<p>

Natsumi stopped her celebration, "What..."

After the dust completely cleared, it was clear that Masaki used a familiar card, Ghost Guard as he held two cards in his hand and went into detail, "If I had taken that piercing damage, I would have lost. However, Ghost Guard let me draw cards from the top of my deck until I hit a Dreadeye monster. First I drew Burial From a Diffferent Dimension which was no good then I drew Dreadeye Deckhand with 700 ATK meaning so I only took lost 1600 Life Points instead of 2300."

He sent both cards to the graveyard as Hikaru chuckled, "Looks like you haven't lost your touch."

Masaki chuckled as well, "Now you're talking. Seems like you're back in fighting form and not holding anything back. That's just the way I like it. Real duelists have no need to hold anything back so now it's my turn to go on the attack!"

The tournament winner started his turn as the Veil of Darkness shrouded the field once more. With that in effect he swiftly drew a card, "I just drew a Dark monster but I'm going to keep it since I'll need it to win it all!"

With that declaration, Hikaru and Natsumi gasped as the opponent held onto the drawn card and immediately played it, "Now I summon Dreadeye Raider!"

On his call, a ghostly pirate suddenly phased into the field on Masaki's side. This Dreadeye was a bit different as the monster was covered in a black fog and was floating with no legs. The monster had a single glowing red eye and an eyepatch along with a hooked chain in its hands (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

Now Masaki moved his hand over to his face-down card on his Duel Disk, "I'll also flip up my other monster, Dreadeye Swabbie! Show yourself!"

A brief light cleared the fog as the swabbie could clearly be seen summoned from a digitized card below its feet which quickly vanished. This Dreadeye had a white bandana along with fairly ordinary tattered brown shirt and pants. The monster had a piece of cloth tied around its one wrist and had a large white mop in its hands (ATK: 1300, Level 4).

"I also activate the Spell Card, Harmonic Waves!," Masaki added on as the card materialized onto the field, "Since all my other Dreadeyes are Level 4, it'd be a shame if Dreadeye Spirit wasn't one too so let's change that!"

A surge of orange waves erupted underneath Dreadeye Spirit as the monster was basked in an orange light (Dreadeye Spirit Level: 4)

Natsumi was surprised as she observed the field, "He has three Level 4 monsters now."

"I Overlay the Level 4 Dreadeye Spirit, Raider and Swabbie!"

A red portal opened up in the air above the field as the three Dreadeye monsters each turned into dark purple rays of energy that rammed into the portal causing an explosion of light. A massive blast of wind shot down from the portal as everyone stood their ground. Even the clouds above darkened as the gale of darkness blew down even stronger.

Masaki raised his arm up dramatically and pointed to the portal, "Eternal legacy of the ancient pirates! Vessel which has endured the erosion of countless elements and battles!"

A battered wooden ship began to descend from the stormy skies. Though the ship was still decently intact, the masts were almost completely worn away and there were some holes in the floor of the deck. On the side, cannons digitized in the openings and another flag was raised up in the central mast. The ship's size was even large enough to cast a shadow which covered a good area of Hikaru's field though the flames from the Sacred Phoenix still lit up the skies.

"Xyz Summon! A ship fit for the pirate ruler of the seas, Dreadeye's Revenge!"

Three dark purple Overlay Units surrounded the ship as it finally hovered near the ground (ATK: 1900, Rank 4, OU: 3).

"When Dreadeye's Revenge is on the field, all 'Dreadeye' monsters I control gain an extra 300 ATK and DEF!"

Now there was a black aura that surrounded Masaki's side of the field, giving a power boost to any Dreadeyes that should appear (Revenge ATK: 1900+300= 2200 ATK).

Masaki continued, "I activate another of Dreadeye's Revenge's effects by detaching the Dreadeye Spirit Overlay Unit. Rather than having no crew onboard, I can Special Summon the monster I used for detachment straight to my field! Appear now, Dreadeye Spirit!"

One of the dark purple Overlay Units struck the flag on the central mast as an eerie purple glow illuminated the deck of the ship (Revenge OU: 2). A dark fog surrounded a small area of the deck as the armored zombie monster with a flaming skull came back once more on the deck of the ship (ATK: 2400+300= 2700 ATK, Level 6).

Masaki clenched his fists, "Now's the time! Trap Card, activate! Dimension Slice!"

The last face-down on Masaki's side revealed itself showing an image of an angelic being about to slash a dark dragon in the midst of battle.

"Because Dreadeye Spirit was Special Summoned to my field, I can banish a monster you control regardless of ATK. A phoenix might be able to be reborn forever but as what Yuushi said once, I'll just move this problem away!", stated Masaki.

Dreadeye Spirit radiated a dark purple aura which followed the pirate's hand being coated in a dark purple flame. The monster raised its arm and swung down. The swing shot out a crescent of dark purple energy that hit Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. Though Hikaru's monster struggled, the purple crescent sliced through the monster causing it to fade off the field leaving Hikaru wide open.

Without giving much time for Hikaru to regret, Masaki moved on, "Now, Dreadeye Spirit! Direct attack!"

Dreadeye Spirit used a similar dark purple glow but concentrated its power on the ground below Hikaru. Without warning, a large pillar of purple energy shot up and engulfed Hikaru who tried to hang on but was blasted back onto his back.

"Brother!," Natsumi shouted as she ran over.

Hikaru- 0 LP  
>Masaki- 400 LP- WIN<p>

The duel ended as Masaki took off his D-Gazer and began walking over after seeing Natsumi rush over too and Hikaru getting back onto his feet.

The Laval duelist didn't say anything for a moment as the other two looked on before he looked at his deck and sighed, "So I lost...but that isn't the end. My spirit is back and burns on and with everyone's help, I'll rise again, just like a phoenix does. Too bad I never got to use its effect, lousy banishment..."

Masaki laughed a bit, "Hey I still had another effect I didn't use either. My Dreadeye's Revenge can protect itself incase it's about to get sunk by detaching all its Overlay Units to save itself."

The three of them talked for a while but Hikaru forgot to do one thing in all the talking, "Oh yeah. Before I forget, I'm guessing you were the one who slipped Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys into my deck. Thanks but you can have it back."

"No problem. Yet, I think the card is suited for you more than me. I was going to use it as trading material but if it can help a duelist, then that's the card for them," said Masaki.

Hikaru wanted to hand the card back, "Masaki, you know..."

Masaki interrupted, "You said you'd beat me next we duel if you had that card. We just dueled and I won so there goes that excuse. Just remember something, all cards have potential depending on the duelist who uses them. Likewise, a crew can only live up the potential that their captain sets for them as well. That Sacred Phoenix can better live up to its potential with you than me."

Wording it like that, Hikaru nodded, "Thanks for everything."

Natsumi ran up to her brother and started to cry as the two siblings hugged each other. Taking it as a cue to leave Masaki waved goodbye and started to walk off, "Well, the WDC's grand prize is calling out to me. Next time you see me, you'll call me Duel Champion! So, take care of your brother."

Hikaru took out the blank white card and could now identify it as Laval Stennon. He put the card away and stared up at the sky before the two siblings looked and smiled at each other before they continued on with their day.

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Dreadeye Swashbuckler

Level 4

Dark Attribute

Zombie/Effect

ATK: 1800, DEF: 500

When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard, you can send 1 card from your hand to the graveyard and draw 1 card from the top of your deck.

Dreadeye Spirit

Level 6

Dark Attribute

Zombie/Effect

ATK: 2400, DEF: 1100

When this card is Special Summoned from the graveyard, if there are 2 or more "Dreadeye" monsters in the graveyard, you can banish 1 "Dreadeye" monster in the graveyard to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower "Dreadeye" monster from your graveyard in face-up DEF mode. Its effects are negated.

Dreadeye's Revenge

Rank 4

Dark Attribute

Zombie/Xyz/Effect

ATK: 1900, DEF: 1500

3 Level 4 Monsters

All face-up "Dreadeye" monsters you control gain 300 ATK and DEF. Once per turn, you can detach an Overlay Unit from this card to Special Summon the monster that was detached. If this card would be destroyed, you can detach all of your Overlay Units instead.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 24 Preview<strong>

Ryoko: Hikaru, glad to see you're back.

Hikaru: Yep, better than ever now!

Yuushi: It was a terrible experience but we have to move forward.

Ryoko: That's probably not the end of those incidents but at least it ended well for us.

Ayumi: Yuushi, how are the new cards?

Yuushi: They're...wait...What's happening? Chapter 24: Ominous Messenger.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: Going to change Remove From Play to Banish as that seems to be the term used nowadays. Both mean the same thing but Banish is the up-to-date terminology.<strong>


	25. Chapter 24: Ominous Messenger

After Hikaru's encounter with Masaki, he was able to continue life as normal. He left the hospital with his family and returned back to his routine, daily life. The day afterwards, he returned back to Mr. Yamazaki's class and reunited with the rest of his classmates. In a few hours since school began, it was lunchtime as everyone went their own ways. This of course included Yuushi, Ayumi and Hikaru who met up with Ryoko as the four sat in the second floor corridor of the school.

Ryoko was the first to speak, "Hikaru, how was your duel with Masaki? Natsumi told us that he helped you recover."

Hikaru shook his head, "Well, it would have been nice if I won but he beat me. Just need to improve as a duelist so that I'll be the one doing the beating next time. It was pretty fun though."

"You seem like you're back and as long as you're trying to improve, then that's a nice extra," Yuushi commented while taking a sip of his drink.

After a bit of food, Hikaru continued, "The only thing I didn't like is that I didn't get to be in the WDC. That would have been the biggest tournament I've been in, ever!"

Ayumi pondered something, "Well, you would have gotten to see and experience dueling on a world stage. If you made it to the WDC finals, you probably would be on television and the internet."

Yuushi agreed with Hikaru, "It's not just that. We didn't even get to compete. We might not have made it all the way to the finals but it would have been a nice experience. That sort of opportunity doesn't come too often."

"Speaking of finals. That starts in a week or two, right?", asked Hikaru.

Ryoko took a bite of food before answering, "Something like that. It'll be hard to miss. Everyone will be taking about it and there will probably be advertisements, posters and fireworks. The last thing I heard was that there was going to be some fancy party on the day before the finals started."

Hikaru was excited, "Can anyone come to the party?! I bet all the people there are strong duelists to have made it that far!"

His voice was a bit loud but Ayumi answered back, "From what I heard, it's pretty much for finalists and their guests only. There's going to be entertainment, music, desserts, dinner and some other things. It's a formal event so they're going to be in suits and dresses."

With a sigh, Hikaru continued eating, "Lame. Sounds pretty high class. That's fine though, doesn't suit my style anyways. But what you said Ayumi, just makes me want a dessert after this. I wonder if the cafeteria has anything."

Ryoko remembered something, "Say Yuushi, your dad wanted you back at the lab right?"

"Since it's the weekend, he said he'd prefer we did some more research and studying on the cards inside the dragon-head box," Yuushi said before suddenly remembering something as he looked to Hikaru, "By the way Hikaru, my dad asked me to..."

Hearing about the box, Hikaru interrupted, "Hey, you guys have to bring me along too. I haven't seen this box yet."

"Sure, why not. I was about to say that my dad wanted to see if you could come so that he could ask you some questions about what happened during that duel in the Iron Curtain with those Nightfall people," Yuushi said.

A tense moment passed before Hikaru sighed and chuckled, "Sure, sounds good to me."

* * *

><p>After lunch passed, the students went back to their respective classrooms before school continued. A few hours after lunch, the final bell sounded off and echoed throughout the school as another day of classes ended and everyone left the classroom. In front of the monorail station, Yuushi, Ayumi, Hikaru and Ryoko all made their way inside to buy tickets to the lab and eventually boarded the monorail. As the lab was near the outskirts of Heartland City, it took about an hour for the monorail to eventually arrive at their station as the four of them talked to each other on their way to the lab to pass some time.<p>

"I can't wait to see that box," Hikaru said on the way.

"How about we show it to you after you talk to my dad then? Speaking of which I'll let him know where we are while we're walking," Yuushi suggested

Hikaru thought about it for a moment, "Alright, that's fine with me since I won't have to worry about it afterwards. I can spend as much time as I want seeing the box that you guys saw. Just don't spoil it for me. I want to see what's inside for myself."

Ryoko spoke up, "There's one thing that won't spoil you. About the warning, the 'threat' that was mentioned. I know your dad talked about it Yuushi but do you really think it's the Iron Curtain?"

To be honest, Yuushi had given it a good amount of thought ever since his duel with Jun, "No idea. One thing's for sure though, even though Hikaru and I were both out for a while, I don't think that Nightfall group or whatever has stopped doing whatever they were doing before."

Ayumi agreed but pondered something, "There's still news about the Iron Curtain incidents going around. The only thing I heard about the attacks is that they have been occurring less frequently. I wonder why?"

"Maybe they gave up or someone beat them up really bad," suggested Hikaru.

Ayumi was skeptical, "Wouldn't something like that be in the news? Maybe we just don't keep up with recent events around Heartland all that well."

Ryoko looked over the horizon and saw a large building, "How about we worry about that when the time comes? Pretty sure that's the lab ahead."

The others kept walking and they soon arrived at the front of the lab where Dr. Sakudo was waiting and met up with him. Normally, they would just walk right in but with the contents of the dragon-head box, experiments and other research expedites taking place, security was heightened and they wouldn't just let anyone, especially high school students, just walk in.

Yuushi thought about something for a minute before asking his dad, "Anything interesting happen at the lab, Dr. Sakudo?"

At home, he would have probably just said 'dad' but in the lab, Yuushi felt obligated to act a bit more professionally and show his dad some respect. The group was nearly at the main entrance to the lab now.

Dr. Sakudo answered back, "Nothing much. Since the Iron Curtain attacks have been happening less frequently, it's hard to gather new data and compile a profile on the incident. We're doing the best we have with the data available. A few other projects have been running smoothly. The database has been running a bit slow lately but we have people working on fixing that."

Hikaru was the first inside the building, "You had something to ask me right, Dr. Sakudo? We sort of talked about it on our way here already. Could you show me the box afterwards?"

The doctor nodded, "Yes. I already asked Yuushi several questions already but I would prefer if I got another perspective from you. Being two extremely rare cases where people have recovered from the Iron Curtain, I would like to see if I can find out how and why you recovered and to see if my team could replicate the results on others currently suffering from whatever happened."

After some security clearance and other procedures, the group reached the doors to the room with the dragon-head box inside as Hikaru and Dr. Sakudo started to turn another direction.

"We'll be back in about an hour or so," Dr. Sakudo stated.

Hikaru was a bit disappointed as he expected that it would take less time than that for some questions but he didn't mind too much as the two walked away.

Yuushi and the girls walked inside the room and then due to certain other restrictions, Yuushi was the only one actually allowed to enter the room with the dragon-head box while the girls watched from a glass room above with some other scientists. Ayumi was mostly investigating the machines and other data on the screen while Ryoko was on her D-Pad checking on things herself.

A scientist hit a button which activated a speaker from the glass room above, "Yuushi, are you ready? We're just going to have you do a few test duels. Just duel like you normally would."

"Alright!", Yuushi simply yelled out.

He made his way over to a table and opened a small container with his modified deck. He used a combination of his old deck, Ayumi's cards that she gave him the other day and cards from inside the dragon-head box. A few scientists were rapidly typing things on the console as Ayumi observed that there were digital charts with several different measures on multiple screens. For a duel, this seemed really complex as she could see that some charts would gauge voice, energy, heart beat, pressure and other things she couldn't make out.

Yuushi took a glance at the deck and thought to himself, _"Seems like the changes are here. I've used this deck for a short while and I'm pretty much used to it by now but there might be other modifications I want to make."_

He then shouted out, "I'm just going to change the deck a bit more if you don't mind!"

"Sure. Take your time," the scientist replied.

After several minutes and some thought, Yuushi changed a few cards around as he finally grabbed his deck and slotted it into his Duel Disk, "I'm ready whenever!"

A machine with a front door began to lower in front of Yuushi as the machine touched the ground and a robot came out the door. This startled Yuushi for a moment as he wasn't expecting something like that.

"Are you ready?", the robot said in a mechanical voice as it raised up its arm causing a Duel Disk extension to be brought out from inside its wrist and arm.

Yuushi similarly got prepared as he hit a button on his glasses to activate its D-Gazer function. With a brief flash, the Augmented Reality Vision function was activated as his dark green D-Pad extended out while he slotted in his deck which automatically shuffled.

"Duel!"

Several turns into the duel, Yuushi had the Field Spell, Magical Citadel of Endymion up along with Endymion himself while the robot had a large wolf creature of ice on the field. Yuushi declared the effect of Endymion the Master Magician as the Spell Crasher effect shattered the wolf monster into ice shards.

"Now attack him directly!", the human duelist commanded.

The Spellcaster monster charged up a dark purple sphere of energy at the tip of its powerful staff. After charging, the large sphere was shot out at the robot as an explosion of magical power and electricity surged through causing the robot to shut itself off as its Life Points reached 0.

In the glass room, Dr. Sakudo had just entered seeing a few scientists and the two high school girls watching the events below.

"Well, Yuushi just won the first duel," Ayumi said a bit excited.

"There will probably be more tests than that," commented Ryoko, " I wonder how Hikaru is doing too?"

"Knowing him, probably being bored," Ayumi said jokingly.

One of the scientists commented to her co-worker, "Is this something? It sort of looks like something but the reading only showed for a brief second. Is it just an error or brief outlier?"

A male scientist walked over and Ayumi looked at the chart herself and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

A third scientist activated a speaker to talk to Yuushi, "Alright, we're just going to set-up the next trial. Feel free to take a small walk around that room or sit around until then. Thank you for your cooperation so far."

"No problem!", shouted Yuushi.

The boy took off his D-Pad and Duel Disk and separated his deck and placed the items on a nearby table.

"_I wonder how much longer this will be?"_ Yuushi thought to himself while taking a stretch.

After several minutes of walking, stretching and looking around, the scientist spoke up, "Just a few more minutes, we're just making some final adjustments. Sorry for the delay."

Yuushi looked around the room and noticed some cameras on the wall, lights on the ceiling and some drawings and posters on the wall of some sort. He glanced over to the left and saw some boxes near the ground along with a chair and a table where his deck was.

The scientists then asked Yuushi, "We're ready on our end. You can pick up your deck at any moment."

The high school boy went over to his deck and inserted the deck into his Duel Disk. Suddenly, a flash of silver light began to engulf the area as the radiance caused Yuushi to shut his eyes and look away. He felt some sort of strange jolt while closing his eyes. Not only that but a strange energy briefly surrounded Yuushi as the silver flashes of light faded.

* * *

><p>When he opened his eyes, Yuushi shook his head in disbelief as he was now in a completely different location than the lab. It was nearly nightfall as some sort of light illuminated the area with a moon of some sort in the dark blue skies. There were trees, both alive and dead ones, and a haze along the ground in an open field. Not only that but there was a forest in his field of vision and a tall mountain over the horizon with a few large rocks to one side of the field. He looked at himself and he seemed relatively normal with his clothes and Duel Disk still on him.<p>

"_So I have no idea where I am and even worse, how I got here. This is just great," _Yuushi noted to himself sarcastically.

Suddenly, Yuushi heard a loud roar followed by another different but just as ferocious roar coming from nearby. Next, he heard large wings begin to flap followed by a brief gust of wind.

Yuushi was startled and was getting really nervous but took a deep breath, _"Alright, just calm down. __Panicking doesn't help anyone. At least it's not burning hot or something."_

Without warning, the gust of wind intensified as Yuushi heard a roar and looked up to see a brief glimpse of two dragonic figures, one black and red while the other was white and silver. It was hard to make them out but suddenly they crashed into each other and disappeared in a radiant flash as a pillar of light shot down from their location in front of Yuushi. The pillar of light disappeared and revealed a large human-sized warrior wearing black and silver armor. However, this warrior was a dragon hybrid of some sort as the warrior had a dragon's head complete with horns, claws for hands and the feet of a dragon. In response to the dragon warrior landing, Arcanite Magician began to glow which caught the dragon warrior's interest.

Yuushi didn't know what to say or do as the warrior was the first to talk, "So you are the person who the stars have chosen to have Arcanite Magician?

Although Yuushi was taken aback by the sudden appearance of this warrior, he wondered how the figure knew about Arcanite Magician already. At this point, this person could be friend or foe and something told the boy that lying about Arcanite Magician wouldn't do him any good right now as he replied, "Yes, I have Arcanite Magician. What about it?"

"Just as Arcanite Magician is a denizen of the Spirit World, I am also a being from that world too. Nevertheless, I am here to test your soul and to see if you are worthy to have that card in your possession," the dragon warrior stated back.

His statements confused Yuushi, "Why do you need to test me anyways? Can you at least tell me about the Spirit World or why you're here?!"

"I am a messenger from the Spirit World. My master has sensed many large disturbances caused by humans through the eyes of his servants. If unstopped, these changes could lead to widespread damage threatening not only your world but ours as well. Such damage from the Numbers and strange veil in Heartland City are only two such examples in a long line throughout Duel Monsters history," the warrior began to explain.

"_Numbers...and the veil thing must be referring to the Iron Curtain,"_ Yuushi reasoned to himself.

The warrior continued on, "This is why we are here in the Spirit World. This trial will determine if you have the strength to wield Arcanite Magician as an aid or as a risk to the world around. Whether you are of light or darkness, if you are threat, then we will be the everlasting chaos that purges it."

On one hand, the warrior's explanation confirmed a few things and on the other hand, there was more to ask. Overall, Yuushi was really confused and didn't really feel like dueling in this place as he yelled back, "Trial or not, I have to get back! People will be worried about me if I'm gone this long!", Yuushi yelled back.

The warrior let out a brief chuckle as he took a different stance, "Your fate will be the same as the other human who contains a card similar to yours. A duel with someone from the Spirit World to test your worthiness. As for those humans worried about you, do not worry. The flow of time has ceased and they are not even aware that you are missing. Do you understand?", the dragon warrior asked before shifting to a defensive stance.

Hearing about someone with a card like Arcanite Magician, Yuushi briefly remembered something Jun stated during their duel, _"That's never happened before. Hayato was right, that card certainly is like __Koji's."_

Yuushi shouted, "Is this other person Koji then?! From a group called Nightfall?!"

"I am not obligated to answer that. My role is to test you and your role is to be tested. That is all and I intent to fulfil my role no matter what," the dragon warrior plainly spoke back.

"_So time has stopped,"_ Yuushi contemplated with some worry, _"I don't really trust what this person said. On the other hand, if I'm in the Spirit World, then I'm in trouble. This person seems to know what's going on and unless I go along with this, I don't think he's going to help or talk to me."_

Yuushi was now the one in a defensive stance, "I don't exactly like this situation but I don't think you're giving me a choice. You want a duel? Then let's get started!"

The warrior did something different as the dragon warrior raised up its arm which emitted a white glow as white particles started to converge onto his arm. From out of nowhere, a black dragon tail-shaped Duel Disk materialized onto his arm along with the warrior's deck.

"_Strange, my AR vision isn't even on and I don't recognize that model of Duel Disk...well I guess that's the least of my problems if time has stopped or that I'm stuck here,"_ Yuushi thought while trying to go along with things the best that he could.

With a single motion, Yuushi attached the Duel Disk onto his arm and activated his D-Gazer glasses with his other hand as the D-Gazer lit up upon activation. Both duelists drew five cards as they prepared themselves.

"Duel!"

Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Dragon Warrior- 4000 LP<p>

"Draw!", shouted Yuushi as he swiped off the top card of his deck and looked at his hand, "I'll set this monster card down along with this set card."

Two face-down cards appeared on Yuushi's side of the field. One was horizontal in his Monster Zone and the other was vertical in his Spell/Trap Zone. Coincidentally, the Spell/Trap Zone facedown was a card Ayumi had given Yuushi.

"I end my turn!"

His opponent didn't seem too impressed but calmly started his own turn with a draw, "I activate Dragon Ravine, a Field Spell."

The area around them terraformed itself into a place of mountains and canyons as the two duelists were now standing on two different cliffs at a fair distance from each other with a ravine in between them and a forest and river below. Despite this, Yuushi's cards were floating in the air seemingly unaffected by the ravine as the moon was still shining down on the battlefield.

"I activate one of the effects of Dragon Ravine by discarding a card from my hand. Now, I can send a Dragon-Type monster from my deck to the graveyard and my choice will be Eclipse Wyvern."

Yuushi took a quick look at the card send from the warrior's hand to the graveyard which was identified as Axe Dragonute while a Monster Card with a red and white dragon under a shining red sky popped out from the dragon warrior's deck as it went to the graveyard as well.

"Now I activate my Eclipse Wyvern's effect. When this card goes to the graveyard, I banish a Level 7 or higher Light or Dark Attribute dragon from my deck such as my Level 7 Light Attribute Lightray Diabolos," explained the mysterious opponent as that named card went from the deck to the Banished Zone.

Before playing the next card in hand, the dragon warrior stared at Yuushi as the card was swallowed in a haze of darkness, "Let me show you a glimpse of my power, he who holds Arcanite Magician."

Yuushi felt a strange, relentless yet extremely powerful force in the warrior's hand as the being's graveyard emitted a strange wave of light and darkness, "Energy of darkness that shadows the universe. Take form and become a primal force incarnate. Special Summon! Darkflare Dragon!"

As the card was played, a ray of light and darkness shot out from the dragon warrior's Duel Disk and into the sky. The two rays collided with each other turning into a mysterious energy that crashed down onto the warrior's side of the field. The energy morphed itself into a black and red multi-winged dragon who landed with enough force to shake the ground below (ATK: 2400, Level 5).

Yuushi looked on with a bit of curiosity yet worry as well, _"Never seen that card before..."_

The warrior looked at Yuushi sensing his bewilderment, "This card is special from most cards since it can be Special Summoned from my hand by banishing a Light and Dark monster from my graveyard."

"Axe Dragonute and Eclipse Wyvern. A Dark and Light Attribute monster respectively. I've heard stories and rumors about cards like that but never seen one in person until now," Yuushi muttered slowly.

After a brief nod from the warrior, the being's graveyard was signalling for something once more as the warrior went on, "Now you'll see something interesting, human. If you recall moments ago, Eclipse Wyvern's effect banished Lightray Diabolos. I can now bring my Level 7 monster back to my hand since Eclipse Wyvern was just banished in my graveyard."

"That's not good," Yuushi commented as the card returned back to the warrior's hand.

"Now I shall summon Mirage Dragon!"

The card hit the otherworldly Duel Disk as a glowing white fog emerged and was followed by a menacing yellow dragon with a scythe for a tail (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

"I foresee a grave outcome for you already at the rate it's going," the warrior taunted.

Yuushi wasn't fazed, "Key words being 'at the rate it's going'."

"Darkflare Dragon, Flame Execution!", the warrior ordered while ignoring Yuushi's last statement, "Not only that but Mirage Dragon's effect activates now! Since battle is starting, you cannot activate any Trap Cards."

The white fog from Mirage Dragon expanded and enveloped Yuushi's side of the field as his lone face-down in the Spell/Trap Zone vanished in the fog. Yuushi looked at that face-down briefly before it disappeared, _"So much for defending..."_

Subsequently following the mist, Darkflare Dragon roared fiercely as a ring of flames expanded from its body and with a blast of energy, the flame ring shot outward towards Yuushi's face-down monster which flipped over. The monster wasn't much of a monster but rather a library of information that many Spellcasters coveted as the structure raised up a magical barrier (DEF: 2000, Level 4).

Despite the barrier, it didn't take long for it to shatter as the flame ring went straight through Royal Magical Library, incinerating anything it came across.

Right after the attack, another one was on the way, "Mirage Dragon, direct attack!"

The dragon lunged forward with impressive speed through the air as the monster rammed straight into Yuushi sending him flying back several feet away on his back as he screamed in pain. The rocky ground of the field was not pleasant to land on at all but still, Yuushi struggled with injuries before making it to his feet as he started to pant.

Yuushi- 2400 LP  
>Dragon Warrior- 4000 LP<p>

Just like with the duel with Nightfall members, this wasn't just virtual damage and some of it was actually real as the monster left a large visible bruise on his chest and potential bleeding, scrape marks on his back. Though Yuushi couldn't see it under his shirt, he could feel it.

"_Again with the real damage..."_, Yuushi noted to himself as he touched the bruise on his chest to confirm it.

The dragon warrior put his hand out as it glowed with a dark radiance, "Though the attacks are over, Darkflare Dragon's effect can activate at this point since there is now a card in the graveyard. I send a Dragon-Type monster from my hand and one from my deck to the graveyard to banish a card in the graveyard. My target will be the only card in the graveyard, Royal Magical Library. Now, to the grave with both of you, Eclipse Wyvern and Divine Dragon Apocralyph."

The black and red dragon roared as the area started to shake before the dragon was surrounded with a dark purple aura. Above the duelists, a magical dark purple portal of some sort shattered the boundary of space as both duelists' decks responded. From the dragon warrior's hand, Divine Dragon Apocralyph went to the graveyard as Eclipse Wyvern from the deck soon followed. Yuushi's Duel Disk was being dragged up to the portal as Royal Magical Library appeared only to be sucked upward into the void.

Seeing a second Eclipse Wyvern in the grave, both duelists knew what would happen next, something that Yuushi didn't want to see again, "Once again Eclipse Wyvern's effect activates as the monster has been sent to the graveyard. This time I'll banish Dark Horus, a Level 8 Dark dragon from my deck."

Just like that, Dark Horus was send from the deck to the Banished Zone as the dragon warrior's deck was shuffled automatically. Yuushi briefly remember Ayumi's duel with Jurou who also had a Dark Horus in his deck too.

"Turn end!"

Now it was Yuushi's turn after his opponent's long chain of events as he analyzed the last move, _"Deck, Hand, Graveyard, and even the Banished Zone. Cards are being used to fill and manipulate resources from all those areas. I can't let my guard down."_

He put his hand on his Duel Disk, "Draw!" and then he grabbed a monster, "I summon Blast Magician!"

In a small field of light, a Spellcaster with purple robes and large red garments on top appeared before the two duelists carrying a scythe-like weapon (ATK: 1400, Level 4).

"Now I activate the Spell Card, Dark Core. I discard Foresight Magician to banish your Darkflare Dragon," Yuushi continued as he send his monster to the graveyard.

At the time that Yuushi's card went to the graveyard, lighting started to crackle around Darkflare Dragon. A sphere of dark matter started to form around the black dragon as the monster wass quickly engulfed in the black sphere before the sphere and the dragon disappeared off the field.

Right afterwards, a small red-orange fireball spawned around the magician as red mist started to form on Yuushi's side of the field as well (Blast SC: 1).

"Blast Magician gains a Spell Counter every time a Spell Card is played but I'll show you its other effect very soon. Second, I play an Equip Spell this time, Bound Wand and I'll equip it onto my monster."

A black staff with a white skull-shaped midsection and a large red crystal tip materialized into Blast Magician's hands, replacing the monster's former scythe-like weapon (Blast ATK: 1400+400= 1800, SC: 1+1= 2)

"Not only does Bound Wand give my monster 100 ATK per Level but it gains a Spell Counter thanks to its own effect as well," Yuushi explained before grabbing the only card left in his hand, "For my last card, I activate Spell Power Grasp."

Blast Magician raised up the Bound Wand it was holding straight above its head as red mist began to spiral around and collect inside the red crystal on the staff. As the red mist was absorbed into the staff, it emitted a red glow as the staff was brought back into normal position with four small fireballs surrounding Yuushi's monster now (Blast SC: 2+1+1= 4)

"Once per turn, one of my cards gains a Spell Counter thanks to the effect of Spell Power Grasp and since a Spell Card was played, I'm sure you know the second effect it has. However, Spell Power Grasp has another effect which lets me add another Spell Power Grasp from my deck to my hand."

A card stuck out from Yuushi's deck as he added a second Spell Power Grasp to his hand before continuing on, "Though I have four Spell Counters, I only need three for the next part of my turn. Blast Magician's effect activates! By removing Spell Counters on this monster, I can destroy any monster with less than or equal to the amount of Spell Counters I removed multiplied by 700. Unless I got horrible at math recently, that makes my threshold 2100 ATK which is more than your Mirage Dragon's 1600 ATK so take this!"

The magician channelled its power into the Bound Wand as three out of the four small fireballs suddenly enlarged quickly with each becoming more notable in size (Blast SC: 4-3= 1). With a swing of the wand, the three large fireballs were shot out at the yellow dragon causing three subsequent explosions and destroying the dragon.

"Now attack him directly!," Yuushi exclaimed.

Yuushi's monster leaped upwards as the crystal on the Bound Wand lit up and gathered power. As Blast Magician reached the peak height of its jump, it grabbed the end of the wand with both hands. The dragon warrior raised its arm up to defend as Blast Magician smashed downward using the magically enhanced Bound Wand as a blunt weapon. The attack caused a small eruption as Blast Magician jumped back to Yuushi's side of the field and the dragon warrior was left holding its shaken arm momentarily.

Yuushi- 2400 LP  
>Dragon Warrior- 2200 LP<p>

"Not too bad. I think my arm is numb...", the warrior said without any real concern.

Sure enough, the warrior recovered quickly as Yuushi seemed shocked. He knew that if he took an attack like that, it could do some damage to his arm for sure. Not just Yuushi, any human would have suffered serious injury or worse which further cemented that this dragon warrior was certainly extraordinary. Then again, the whole situation wasn't exactly ordinary.

"_No choice but to keep going and see what happens after," _Yuushi mentioned to himself before remembering that he was still in a duel, "That about evens it up. I'm done my turn."

The dragon warrior drew a card, "Even, you say. Then let's see how you'll handle a more fitting display for a trial."

With the warrior giving Yuushi an ominous warning, he grabbed onto his most recently drawn card which radiated a bright white light as Yuushi felt a similar pulse of energy mirroring the event from before, "Power of light that slices through the universe. Emerge forth and bring down the force of judgment. Special Summon! Lightpulsar Dragon!"

Similar to before, a ray of light and darkness was released into the skies above the duelists. With a violent clash, the two rays melded into an energy pillar that came crashing down and lit up the ravine causing a blinding flash as Yuushi closed his eyes. Soon after the flash, Yuushi noticed another similar sized dragon-shaped shadow inside the energy pillar. On the contrary, this dragon was white and silver with a core in the center of its chest causing particles and rays of light to circle around and infuse the new dragon with a mysterious power (ATK: 2500, Level 6).

The human was in awe as the dragon warrior proclaimed, "This dragon can be Special Summoned in the same way as Darkflare Dragon, by removing two monsters such as Eclipse Wyvern and Divine Dragon Apocralyph to meet its Light and Dark monster condition."

Dark Horus slotted out from the dragon warrior's Banished Zone as the warrior added it to his hand and stated, "In case you forgot my Eclipse Wyvern's effect in the graveyard triggered when it was banished so I can add Dark Horus right into my hand to help maintain my usage of cards."

Arcanite Magician suddenly began to glow from Yuushi's own Duel Disk as he could feel that his monster was picking up on something strange. It wasn't a concrete fact but there was something that he could unexpectedly and undeniably feel now. Even the wind began to blow as the moonlight became exceptionally bright and Yuushi's heart started to beat at an increased rate.

Yuushi prepared for something powerful as the dragon warrior played a card in his initial hand, "I activate D.D.R.- Different Dimension Reincarnation. My real test for you is about to begin once I discard Dark Horus from my hand to pay for the cost of this activation. Now! Return to us!"

The Equip Spell emerged but also brought forth a strange phenomenon as the air in front of the dragon warrior began to twist and contort as the boundary of time and space bent and formed a white hole of some sort. A familiar roar was heard through the void as Darkflare Dragon flew out into the sky and landed onto the ground. The black and red dragon was almost completely as Yuushi remembered but revived with a strange white energy connected to the white hole (ATK: 2400, Level 5).

The high school boy from Delta could feel the power from these dragons as both roared fearsomely towards their opponent. The power of Darkflare Dragon was now familiar to him, but Lightpulsar Dragon's presence was an unknown.

His opponent declared with confidence, "I wonder if Arcanite Magician was drawn to your strength or whether it was pure coincidence. That's what my master wants to know and he will by the outcome of this duel. Let me tell you this now, if you duel me at the previous levels my master has observed of your defeats with Arcanite Magician, then you will have no chance at victory."

Hearing that this warrior's master has been scouting him, Yuushi was getting anxious,_"Who knows what could happen if I lose? No, I only need to worry about getting back and finding out what this warrior wants and maybe even things about this 'master' or the Iron Curtain. If he has nothing to do with Nightfall, then is there some other party interested in Arcanite Magician? If I have to beat him to get some answers then, just like he told me before, that's all I need to do."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 25 Preview<strong>

Yuushi: This dragon warrior doesn't really seem to be a part of Nightfall. So why's he here and how does Nightfall play into all this?

Yuushi: First though, I have to deal with these two dragons at least. This isn't good, they're not staying down even with Arcanite Magician going all out.

Yuushi: Chapter 25: Cosmic Resonance. My opponent seems to really know what he's doing but so do I!


	26. Chapter 25: Cosmic Resonance

The duel in an area in the Spirit World continued with both duelists having about Life Points. Though the duel was in the Spirit World, the dragon warrior's Field Spell, Dragon Ravine terraformed the landscape.

Yuushi- 2400 LP  
>Dragon Warrior- 2200 LP<p>

Each duelist had one card in their hand and it wasn't a secret to either the identity of those cards since the two cards were there thanks to earlier effects. In Yuushi's hand, he had Spell Power Grasp and on the field he had Blast Magician equipped with Bound Wand at 1800 ATK along with a face-down card beside Bound Wand. For the opponent, he had Lightray Diabolos in his hand but rather than only one monster, the dragon warrior had two which were Darkflare Dragon revived thanks to Different Dimension Reincarnation with 2400 ATK and Lightpulsar Dragon with 2500 ATK.

Since Different Dimension Reincarnation was just played, Yuushi declared, "You just activated a Spell Card which means that my Blast Magician gains another Spell Counter!"

Red particles of light started to form above Blast Magician's right shoulder as the particles converged and turned into a second small fireball (Blast SC: 1+1= 2).

However, it was still the middle of the dragon warrior's turn as he declared the start of the Battle Phase, "Let's see how you respond to this! Lightpulsar Dragon, attack Blast Magician with Quark Brilliance!"

Multiple spheres of magic appeared around the dragon of light before each sphere shot out a ray of light that pierced through Blast Magician causing Yuushi's monster to disappear and the wand to fall to the ground before vanishing as well.

Yuushi- 1700 LP  
>Dragon Warrior- 2200 LP<p>

"_If a take a direct attack from Darkflare Dragon, I'll lose. Luckily though..."_

Yuushi recovered from staggering backwards, "I activate the effect of Bound Wand. Since both the equipped monster and this card were just destroyed by you and sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon the monster that was equipped with this card. Revive, Blast Magician!"

A dark purple portal which emitted a red glow appeared in front of Yuushi as the same monster emerged out from the portal except this time, Blast Magician had his original scythe-like weapon rather than the Equip Spell. Furthermore, the scythe was held in front as a weapon to block the next incoming attack (DEF: 1700).

"Bring down that monster once and for all, Darkflare Dragon!"

The dark dragon of the duo once again released a ring of flame from its body that shot towards Blast Magician who raised a red barrier of magic mist to defend itself. Nevertheless, after some resistance, the flame ring went through anyways incinerating Yuushi's monster as it went off the field once more.

Yuushi clenched his teeth but sighed with relief, _"Thanks, Blast Magician."_

"Turn end. Is that all, you have? How do you expect to win with simple tactics like that?," the dragon warrior taunted as both dragons looked down on Yuushi.

The boy looked at his remaining face-down before ignoring the opponent and putting his hand on his deck, "Draw!"

He looked at the dragon warrior, "Then I'll show you the strength my deck possesses. You say you want to test me, then you'd better prepare yourself."

Yuushi's statement interested the dragon warrior as the high school human continued his turn, "I summon Magical Exemplar!"

A female Spellcaster with long black hair and magical turquoise robes materialized onto the field in a faint white light (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

Following that, Yuushi grabbed the last card in his hand, "Now I activate Spell Power Grasp once more! Similar to last time with Blast Magician, Magical Exemplar gains a Spell Counter and then I can add the third and final Spell Power Grasp from my deck."

A spiral of magic shaped itself into a white sphere of magic beside Magical Exemplar as a source of power (Exemplar SC: 1). Meanwhile, Yuushi had already added another Spell Power Grasp from his deck to his hand.

However, two more white spheres of magic started to accumulate themselves beside Magical Exemplar who now gave off a white aura of light as three white spheres surrounded the spellcaster (Exemplar SC: 1+2= 3).

"Magical Exemplar can also gather magic in the environment and use it to her advantage. As a matter of fact, she is very efficient at converting magic in the environment for her own use. While Blast Magician only gets a single Spell Counter from Spell Cards being activated, Magical Exemplar gets double the amount", Yuushi explained.

"Now that I have enough Spell Counters, I'll activate Magical Exemplar's other effect. By removing three Spell Counters from this card, I can Special Summon Foresight Magician in the graveyard."

The three white spheres around Yuushi's monster disappeared (Exemplar SC: 0) as a white portal on the ground suddenly appeared beside Magical Exemplar before fading away. Emerging from the portal was a young, blue-robed magician with a crystal mirror in his hands. Though a hood covered the top of his head, the robe still had a shining gem attached to it (ATK: 400, Level 3 Tuner).

Seeing the situation, the dragon warrior realized what would happen next as Yuushi got excited, "Now, I'm tuning Foresight Magician to Magical Exemplar!"

Foresight Magician's mirror began to shine before the holder vanished into three green rings that flew into the air above the battlefield and aligned themselves in a parallel fashion. Magical Exemplar flew through the green rings before she faded into an orange wireframe and then into four shining stars as everything was engulfed in a row of light.

"A magician matched only in the mythic era! The illuminating force from the cosmic legends! Synchro Summon! Appear, Arcanite Magician!"

From the light, Yuushi's ace monster appeared in its usual thick light blue armor which had the texture of a robe. Spinning around its staff before placing it down quickly beside itself, a green circle of magic runes appeared behind as Arcanite Magician prepared for battle (ATK: 400, Level 7).

"Arcanite Magician...I shall see how you will use that power and whether or not you are worthy," stated the dragon warrior.

"Then pay attention. First though, Arcanite Magician's effect. When this card is Synchro Summoned it gains two Spell Counters and 1000 ATK for each one," announced Yuushi and in response Arcanite Magician radiated a green light that powered up the monster (Arcanite ATK: 400+1000+1000= 2400 ATK, SC: 2).

Yuushi moved his Duel Disk upwards so that the dragon warrior could see it as a familiar crystal mirror digitized above Yuushi with the back facing his opponent but the glass facing Yuushi. Following that, the mirror began to glow as Yuushi's deck glowed in a similar fashion, "Foresight Magician was used in that Synchro Summon so I can use its ability too. This magic mirror allows me too see the next card I will draw on top of my deck and then I can place that card at the top or bottom of my deck."

The mirror reflected a card as Yuushi drew the top card of his deck to confirm what he saw, _"This card...alright, it should be good"_

There was a brief pause as Yuushi placed the card back in its original position before looking to his opponent, "I'll leave it there."

His opponent commented on his decision, "I assume you saw a card that favored the current situation."

A portal opened up below the mirror as it disappeared off the field although Yuushi still had his Duel Disk upwards, "You'll just have to see, won't you? There's another effect that Foresight Magician has that I'll use right now. By banishing it from the graveyard, I can add a Spell Counter to any Spellcaster that uses Spell Counters and I only have one monster on the field so he'll receive the benefits."

Glimmering blue drops of light began to rain down on Arcanite Magician who responded with a blue glow around itself as the tip of the Synchro Monster's staff began to glow green (Arcanite ATK: 2400+1000= 3400 ATK, SC: 3)

"_I'll clear both dragons at once then move in for a direct attack."_

Yuushi pointed to Lightpulsar Dragon, "It's now that I'll Arcanite Magician's effect. I can remove a Spell Counter to destroy a card on your field. The first target on my list is your Lightpulsar Dragon. Pulsar Wave!"

With the staff still green, Arcanite Magician swung twice releasing a green crescent wave of magic that sliced through Lightpulsar Dragon (Arcanite ATK: 3400-1000= 2400 ATK, SC: 2) who roared with fury before disappearing off the field in an explosion of orange light. However, through the remnants of the explosion, a portal of strong orange light appeared as rays of light began to concentrate themselves around the portal.

The dragon warrior chuckled once, "Whenever Lightpulsar Dragon is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a Level 5 or higher Dark Dragon-Type monster from my graveyard. When light disappears there must be darkness and when darkness disappears there must be light. That is a simple fact but the unity and balance of the two is where true power comes from. Dark Horus, show yourself!"

The light from the portal disappeared and a large shining black dragon flew forth. It was the largest creature on the field as it spread its massive wings creating a large blast of wind and dust forcing Yuushi away from the edge of the ravine. Looking on down Arcanite Magician with its orange eyes, the battle roared with great intensity (ATK: 3000, Level 8).

"You have now fallen further behind. What will you do now?!", challenged the dragon warrior seeing both his monsters equal or stronger than Yuushi's own.

"_Already half-way through, might as well just finish the job and go all-out now."_

The boy scowled but continued on, "I'll take down those two monsters as well then. I'll use Arcanite Magician's effect two more times. Once on Dark Horus and the other on your Darkflare Dragon."

Using the same crescent waves, the powerful effect of Arcanite Magician sliced through both of his opponent's monsters with ease as they too were destroyed and disappeared off the field. Even the dragon warrior was knocked back by the impact though he managed to defend himself fairly well regardless. However, there were now no monsters on his side of the field through Arcanite Magician was drained of the majority of its power (Arcanite ATK: 2400-1000-1000= 400 ATK, SC: 0).

There was barely anything on the field as Yuushi looked at his opponent, "Without anything to stabilize it, even Different Dimension Reincarnation is off the field. Arcanite Magician! Starlight Horizon!"

Arcanite Magician put forth its staff as a large blue-green sphere of magical power crackled and rapidly expanded in size. After a sufficient size was achieved, Yuushi's monster released the blast of energy that collided and exploded with the dragon warrior. Despite having his arms in a position where he blocked a portion of the impact, the dragon warrior was still knocked back.

Yuushi- 1700 LP  
>Dragon Warrior- 1800 LP<p>

There was nothing more than Yuushi could do, "That's it for my turn."

Yuushi analyzed his last move and shook his head with some disappointment, _"If I knew about Lightpulsar Dragon's effect earlier, I could have done more with my turn. If things had went out the way I planned it, I could have dealt 1400 points of damage. However, Lightpulsar's revival effect made me use another Spell Counter which lowered my direct damage by 1000. The optimal move would have been while Arcanite Magician had 3400 ATK and three Spell Counters, attack Darkflare Dragon to deal 1000 points of damage and then use two Spell Counters to eliminate Lightpulsar Dragon and the revived Dark Horus and still have a Spell Counter leftover meaning Arcanite Magician would have been at 1400 ATK."_

"Then I'll start," the dragon warrior responded while drawing a card for his turn.

The opponent sensed Yuushi's miscalculation as he brought up another point, "You've let your guard down again. How naive! Did you really think that I would not take advantage of that?"

Yuushi was confused, "What do you mean by 'again'?!"

The dragon warrior looked sternly at Yuushi, "As I've stated, my master has been monitoring your usage of Arcanite Magician including your losses. Again, you have left yourself open to a powerful counterattack. Why do humans like to rush to their own defeat? I suppose it's fate. Lightpulsar Dragon can not only bring back other monsters, but it can bring itself back from the graveyard too."

Yuushi was shocked, "What?!"

Next the opponent grabbed the last two cards from his hand, "I send a second Axe Dragonute and Lightray Diabolos from my hand to Special Summon Lightpulsar Dragon back to my field. Be reborn, my dragon of light!"

An orange portal of light opened up on the dragon warrior's side of the field as the white and silver dragon sprung forth. The center core of the dragon lit up with rays of light encircling the monster once more (ATK: 2500, Level 6).

"It has all led up to this point! This trial has been settled! Attack now, Quark Brilliance!"

Heeding the dragon warrior's command, Lightpulsar Dragon began to charge up power as the rays of light sped themselves up forming spheres of light by the dragon's body. With a furious blast, a barrage of light shot out at Arcanite Magician covering the area like a screen. Despite that, the rays of light couldn't make contact with Arcanite Magician and were blocked by a strange force surrounding Yuushi's monster. Upon a closer look, the barrier was actually a strange shining outline of some sort like a metallic coat that would be placed on machines.

Yuushi looked over, "I activated my face-down that I got from my best friend, Power Frame. While it's true Arcanite Magician has low ATK after using its effect so much, not only does Power Frame let me negate your attack but it also equips onto my monster and gives it an ATK boost equal to the difference between your monster and mine."

The trap card shot a ray of light into Arcanite Magician who then began to glow turquoise for a short while before the glow faded (Arcanite ATK: 400+2100= 2500 ATK).

"You said that I had to improve my skill to stand a chance and a long while ago, I might have lost by now. Let's say I've learned a few ways to cover Arcanite Magician's massive ATK loss weakness and to bring out its full strength," the boy said to the dragon warrior who stayed silent.

Closing his eyes, Yuushi remembered his duels up until now including the ones at school, the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament, with his friends, with Jun and even others, "With a variety of different duels, you pick up and learn different things from each one. Then with all these things that you learn, you apply and use them in order to improve yourself. There's one thing though that drives all that and that's determination. Right now, I'm determined to find out what's going on with Arcanite Magician and the Iron Curtain. Not just for me, but for everyone else around me and if I have to beat you to get there, then that's all there is to it."

The dragon warrior remarked, "If that's what fate has decided, then indeed it will be all there is to it. I end my turn."

"It's my draw," Yuushi announced plainly as he looked at the card that he knew he would draw thanks to Foresight Magician's effect in the previous turn. "First, I set this card face-down on my field and then activate Spell Power Grasp."

A face-down card beside Power Frame materialized followed by a Spell Card with a picture of a spellcaster raising his wand up and gathering energy from the environment.

"I'll use its effect to give my Arcanite Magician a Spell Counter and since that's the third Spell Power Grasp I used, there are no more in my deck so I can't add that card to my hand."

Like the picture on the card, Arcanite Magician began to raise up its wand as energy began to flood inside giving off a blast of blue and green light (Arcanite ATK: 2500+1000= 3500 ATK, SC: 1).

Yuushi was in the same situation as his opponent as both had no cards left in their hands. This time he wouldn't make the same mistake as he did last turn, "Now Arcanite Magician will attack Lightpulsar Dragon! Starlight Horizon!"

Arcanite Magician concentrated and formed a large sphere of energy that was shot out at Lightpulsar Dragon who was destroyed in a large explosion. Smoke and dust were the only things that were leftover in the blast. However, an orange portal was started to form and open as a roar could be heard from within.

Yuushi- 1700 LP  
>Dragon Warrior- 800 LP<p>

"I use my monster's effect when it's destroyed. Now I can bring back the Level 8 Dark Horus. Show yourself, my dragon!"

Hearing the dragon warrior's command, Dark Horus flew out from the portal and made its presence known once more. Even the moon darkened in response to this monster appearing on the battlefield as the light from the sky got weaker (ATK: 3000, Level 8).

Now Yuushi was the one about to make a statement, "I activate Arcanite Magician's effect again in my second Main Phase. I remove my last Spell Counter on my monster to destroy Dark Horus. So once again, your dragon is going straight to the graveyard!"

Two crescents of magical power were released from Arcanite Magician's staff as they sliced straight through the massive dragon who disappeared into light. As his monster disappeared, the dragon warrior scowled to himself as he now had nothing on the field and no cards in his hand either.

"No...", was all the warrior could mutter to himself.

"My turn's finished," Yuushi quickly said.

The dragon warrior silently drew a card and looked at it, "Not bad, but I'm still here. I set this card face-down and end my turn."

For a moment, Yuushi looked at that face-down. It was a short turn but considering that the dragon warrior only had that card to play, Yuushi wasn't exactly expecting much. However, it wasn't time to let down his guard as he prepared to start his turn.

"Draw!", the boy shouted out and looked at his drawn card which was Magical Marionette

"_With only 800 Life Points, I can...",_ Yuushi began to think as suddenly the dragon warrior made a motion with his hand.

"Now let's see how you respond to this. Trap activate! Return from the Different Dimension!"

The opponent revealed a Trap Card as a rainbow portal began to warp itself into the current dimension over the ravine as time and space was bent to accommodate. Yuushi didn't like the look of that especially after seeing multiple images beginning to form inside.

His opponent chuckled, "At a cost of half my Life Points, I activated this card. Now I can Special Summon back as many of my banished monsters as I want."

Yuushi- 1700 LP  
>Dragon Warrior- 400 LP<p>

The dragon warrior placed all four of his banished monsters back onto the field as images of white light began to form on his field. The first dragon to appear was a smaller black and white dragon that swung a similarly colored thunder axe. Yuushi identified the monster as Axe Dragonute as its armor shimmered with a black light (DEF: 1200, Level 4). Next were the two red and white Eclipse Wyverns who descended downward and folded their wings to cover their bodies in a defensive position (DEF: 1000, Level 4). Lastly, Divine Dragon Apocralyph ignited the area as a dragon of flames flew downward from the portal as it too formed a defensive barrier of flames in front of it (DEF: 1500, Level 4).

That gives me four monsters to defend myself with. Even if you summon another monster, you'll need two more Spell Counters to fully breach my defenses. When the time comes, I will strike and you won't even know what hit you," gloated the opponent while thinking of various measures.

Yuushi looked at his opponent and prepared himself, "Then I'd better finish it before that time comes. I still have one last trick. This is the proof of the strength I've gained after learning so many things. This is my last stand and the power of my evolving duel!"

With a swift motion, Yuushi revealed his own Trap Card, "Assault Mode Activate! With this card, Arcanite Magician can transform itself using an ancient power! Go!"

Yuushi raised up his arm as the wind began to pick up.

"The evolving magician that resonates with the cosmos! Force of the buster known throughout!"

White particles of light began to form around Arcanite Magician who closed its eyes as the monster began to charge up energy. A spinning green circle of magical energy began to form behind Yuushi's ace monster. Even the Dragon Warrior was looking on with deep curiosity as the wind kept getting more intense. The magical circle changed colors into a blue circle of magic as Arcanite Magician opened its eyes and slammed its staff on the ground. With a flash of light on impact, Arcanite Magician suddenly transformed into wearing dark purple and red instead of its usual blue garments. Though Arcanite Magician looked the same despite the color change, it was wearing heavier armor with green socketed gems and was wielding a larger staff (ATK: 900, Level 9).

"Mode Change! Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode!", Yuushi finished off.

"Assault Mode?", questioned the dragon warrior.

"This card allows me to Tribute my monster to Special Summon its Assault Mode counterpart from my deck in ATK mode. Similar to Arcanite Magician, this new form gets two Spell Counters when its successfully Special Summoned!"

The green staff and gems on Arcanite Magician began to glow and radiate as the high-leveled Spellcaster prepared its next move (Arcanite/AM ATK: 900+1000+1000= 2900 ATK, SC: 2)

The dragon warrior looked over, "But even with an attack and two more Spell Counters, you can only eliminate three monsters from my wall!"

Yuushi countered, "Well, that was Arcanite Magician's effect. Assault Mode lets me modify and power-up that effect. Don't just take my word for it, let me demonstrate it for you first-hand! I remove two Spell Counters from Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode then I can destroy every card on your side of the field, whether it be Monster, Spell or Trap Cards!"

The dragon warrior's eyes widened in shock, "But that means that I'll be defenseless!"

"Exactly. Now! Shining Starfall!"

Arcanite Magician raised up its staff as it began to glow dark red. Up in the sky, several bright beams of light began to descend downwards toward the dragon warrior's side of the field. Leaving a shimmering trail, the stars of light crashed rapidly crashed down onto the dragon warrior's field, destroying the four dragons in no time at all (Arcanite/AM ATK: 900, SC: 2).

Since two Eclipse Wyverns were just sent to the graveyard again, the dragon warrior added two monsters from his deck to his Banished Zone, namely a second Lightray Diabolos and Darkstorm Dragon. Nevertheless, that did not change the incoming assault from happening.

Yuushi then commanded his monster, "Now for the end! Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode! Direct Attack! Satellite Resonance!"

Not only did Arcanite Magician's staff now glow green per usual but the gems began to radiate in harmony with the magical surge of power. After a while, the light of the gems burst out into a large green sphere above Arcanite Magician who was controlling the power with its staff. With a swing, the large sphere exploded into multiple green rays of light that showered down on the dragon warrior.

Yuushi- 1700 LP- WIN  
>Dragon Warrior- 0 LP<p>

As the attack faded, the dragon warrior recovered from staggering around, opened his eyes and walked forward. The battlefield was void of anything as the duel was over. Yuushi didn't know what to do as he kept a close eye on the advancing warrior while attempting to hold his ground. After being many metres in front of Yuushi, the dragon warrior stopped taking steps and took a visual analysis of the boy.

"You have a good look. However, this isn't over yet. My master will still be interested in the Trial of the Two. How will you interact with the one similar to you?", the warrior pondered out loud.

"Wait. What! You need to explain a few things to me! Who is your master? What is the Trial of the Two exactly? What does the Spirit World and Nightfall and the Iron Curtain have to do with anything!," Yuushi yelled out quickly in confusion and frustration.

The dragon warrior raised up its claw as Yuushi's D-Pad began to glow white as he added on, "You will see in due time. You have my word and honor as a servant. First though, my master wants to see how the Trial of the Two will go."

Yuushi shouted in rage at the warrior's ambiguity, "Damn it, you're not listening! You haven't answered any questions I have for you! You're just repeating things!"

A black portal began to open behind the dragon warrior as he turned his back to Yuushi, "On the contrary, only you can determine the answers to those questions. I am simply giving you the means to find that answer. You are one participant in the Trial of the Two and I have given you the location of the other with the similar card so perhaps you both can come up with the solution. Whether you go or not, your interactions if any with the other, just remember that your role and actions have been decreed. My master will be watching and looking over you two with great interest."

Dashing forward, Yuushi wanted to stop the dragon warrior but it was too late as the warrior had already disappeared into the portal.

"Wait!"

* * *

><p>The light and darkness from the portal exploded outward, causing Yuushi to close his eyes from the bright flash. After several moments, the light subsided and Yuushi found himself once more inside the lab. The white glow around his dark green D-Pad faded as he looked around the lab. From above, Ayumi, Ryoko and several scientists were looking down at Yuushi as a robotic opponent was prepared for him to duel. The shock of that otherworldly experience caused Yuushi to stare blankly as his mind had a mental whiplash.<p>

The scientist spoke up through the speaker, "Yuushi, is something the matter?"

Sure enough, it was as if time was now progressing like normal. Simply by everyone's eyes and movement, they were not aware of the duel that had progressed. Yuushi opened his D-Pad quickly and couldn't find any proof of the events that had just transpired except for something blinking. Upon closer examination, the blinking on his D-Pad marked a forest that was miles outside the other side of Heartland City.

"Actually, there is something that I found. It's actually sort of important so can we wait for my dad to finish up with Hikaru?", asked Yuushi.

The scientists talked amongst themselves for a while, "Dr. Sakudo should be finished his questioning soon. We can study the current data we have so far while we're waiting. Afterwards, we can adjust our testing appropriately and see if there's anything else afterwards. I will contact Dr. Sakudo and let him know."

Yuushi nodded as the scientists continued their work. The boy took a deep breath and looked at his D-Pad and deck with careful thought.

About ten minutes later, Dr. Sakudo and Hikaru walked into the glass room as where everyone else was as Yuushi made his way into the room as well.

"So what is it that you found Yuushi?", the father asked.

With a touch of a button, Yuushi brought up the data from the dragon warrior on the screen of his D-Pad as he started his story, "Well, you see..."

* * *

><p>Yuushi explained what happened in the Spirit World along with the dragon warrior who showed up. A few people were reasonably puzzled as they began to discuss the events.<p>

"Yuushi, are you sure?" Ryoko asked in some disbelief.

Ayumi commented, "Well, if he has Arcanite Magician and all this weird stuff has been happening then I guess this isn't too far of a stretch."

"So you wiped the floor with that guy then. That's great!," Hikaru added in.

Dr. Sakudo was more interested in the co-ordinates on the map as he finished a brief analysis, "Time stopping is one thing and dragon warriors are another. Whether this happened or not, these co-ordinates are one thing that's concrete and with us right now. It appears to point towards a small clearing in a forest. That's where the dragon warrior said the other with the similar card is right?"

"I'm assuming the other with the similar card must be Koji. If that's true and this is his location, then it must be where Nightfall must be as well," Yuushi reasoned out.

Everyone thought about that statement for a moment and many were skeptical. It was easy to deny Yuushi's story but there were some parts of the story that could not be denied as a few more moments silently passed.

Finally, Dr. Sakudo looked at the time, "Regardless, we can probably send some people to investigate. It couldn't hurt, right? If there really is something there, then we can deal with it. We'll probably start investigating that location later tonight after I make some calls and get authorization."

Ayumi nodded, "I just hope it works out for the best."

Hikaru looked over to Yuushi, "So Yuushi, how about you show me those cards you found in that box. You promised me earlier after all. Actually, how about you duel and show me. I'd rather see it for myself and have that moment than have you explain it. I heard from your dad that there's some Assault cards or whatever along with other things."

Yuushi looked over to the scientists, "So how about it? Or do you need me to duel for more data?"

The scientists smiled, "Well, you can duel your friend if you want. We can always get data on that since it still uses those cards in the box. Besides, dueling a human opponent could provide some interesting results."

Ryoko looked over to Ayumi, "Guess boys will be like that."

Ayumi smiled back, "Nothing we can do about that but watch and wait."

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, another duel had ended inside a similar setting to Yuushi's own duel as the moonlight fell down a dark barren battlefield. A monstrous black wizard looked over to a human duelist who had his own glowing card. The duelist had dark blue hair and matching black clothes with red and blue patterns all over. This person was slightly older than a teenager at most as the black wizard turned his back to the human. A black portal opened up behind the wizard who began to walk in.<p>

"The time has come to see a facet of humanity's strength. Now the Trial of the Two has officially begun. My master will be watching with great interest at the results. My failure means that you have passed as did the other," stated the wizard with a grin.

As the monster disappeared through the portal, a flash of light brought the dark blue haired duelist back to a somewhat ruined structure. His D-Pad began to glow as he opened it up and saw a location being revealed on a map as well. The duelist met up with another familiar individual with a silver striped cloak and showed him the map. Both individuals quickly realized the location on that D-Pad was toward a lab on the outskirts of Heartland City.

"Something wrong, Koji?," Hayato asked.

"So is this where the other duelist is? Is this Yuushi Sakudo's location? I have quite a story to tell", Koji stated.

He explained the details of his duel to Hayato who nodded in confirmation.

"How much more power do we need? A messenger from the Spirit World has already come which means that we might be too late. They've already made the first move", Koji said with some anger in his voice.

Hayato said back, "We just need to wait a few days for the energy to settle and fully charge. After that, we can continue with the last part of our plan. If you want, we can strike that location first."

Koji looked at the map, "No, we need to defend this place. If the other person who I'll assume is Yuushi has passed and done the some thing I just did, then he probably knows where we are too. Let him come to us. If he doesn't then that's good and we can proceed uninterrupted but if he does, then we'll tighten security and end things here. I'm not sure how recovered from the power of the Iron Curtain after losing to Jun but that won't matter. If it comes down to it, I'll personally see his end."

"If that's what you want, then we'll do that," stated Hayato.

Koji walked over to Hayato, "Regardless, we will need a backup plan incase we are not successful. You, Shiho and Jun have been my closest allies throughout all this. However, you are the most capable to carry out this backup plan. Take our legacy and head off. If you do not hear from any of us then you will be the sole survivor with our plan on your shoulders.

Hayato paused for a moment and looked at Koji, "But..."

Koji quickly interrupted, "But nothing. This back-up plan was your idea in the first place so I'll contact Shiho and Jun immediately. If you hear from us after a few days, then come back and if not, I trust that you'll know what to do. So go!"

Hearing Koji's tone and looking into his eyes, Hayato knew Koji was being more serious than usual, "Very well."

With that, Hayato took his leave which meant Koji was alone in the dark room. The dark blue haired human looked at his Duel Disk which contained a card that was glowing as well.

"_If Yuushi and Arcanite Magician are coming, he'll probably bring some backup. Then I should prepare to defend this place with everything I have."_

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Foresight Magician

Level 3

Water Attribute

Spellcaster/Tuner

ATK: 400, DEF: 300

If this card is sent to the graveyard as a Synchro Material Monster, you can see the top card of your deck. You can return the card to the top or bottom of your deck. If you control a face-up Spellcaster-Type monster that you can place a Spell Counter on, you can banish this card from your graveyard to add 1 Spell Counter to that monster.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 26 Preview<strong>

Ryoko: So what's our next move then? Do we just wait?

Ayumi: I wonder if the investigation done by Dr. Sakudo in that clearing will be enough to end everything.

Yuushi: What? What do you mean there was nothing there?

Hikaru: How about we take a look ourselves then!

Ryoko: Chapter 26: Toward Their Battles. If this is what things come down to, then I guess there's no other choice.


	27. Chapter 26: Toward Their Battles

A few days after Yuushi's duel with the dragon warrior, school had just ended for Delta Academy as students began to rush outside. Even teachers like Mr. Yamazaki were now attending to after-school duties or simply taking a short break. The day before, Dr. Sakudo had told Yuushi, Ayumi, Hikaru and Ryoko to meet up and that he would contact them about the results of the search on the forest clearing. Yuushi himself didn't know what to expect since that information and location came from the dragon warrior who then vanished without a trace. Regardless, Yuushi gathered up everyone as they were closing in on Yuushi's house.

"_There's a lot I don't understand. Just what was the reasoning behind the dragon warrior's arrival? Maybe there will be some answers when dad calls today,"_ Yuushi thought to himself

The four of them saw the two-storied blue-roofed bleach yellow house with an antenna sticking out from the front area of the roof. Around the front of the house was a small garden of flowers and there were also a few bushes surrounding the house and driveway. They passed the neighboring brown-roofed house and they reached the door to the Sakudo home.

Yuushi grabbed out a set of keys, "My mom's working so she won't be back for a while. We have the place to ourselves. I figured if we're waiting for dad's call then we should at least be comfortable."

Ayumi nodded as Yuushi opened the door for everyone, "Thanks."

They entered and made themselves comfortable as they sat on chairs and the sofa located in the living room. There were a few decorative things such as small plants and posters as well as a calendar. Additionally, there was a television and a game system with multiple movies and a nearby digital clock on the wall beside the television.

Ryoko sat down, "This is a nice couch. Yuushi, you know where the remote is? I want to check the weather and see how cold it'll be tonight."

"Let's see what games you have, Yuushi," Hikaru said trying to find any video games.

Ayumi looked around, "Seems a bit different from the last time I was here."

Yuushi nodded, "My parents recently just moved all the furniture around. I'm not even sure why. I didn't have a problem with things before but my mom said something about the television having more light facing the window than the wall and that the desk was blocking stuff or something like that."

After a while, Ryoko turned off the television as she got her information from the news and weather forecast as she stood up and took a look in the other room and saw a shelf of textbooks. Ayumi noticed the shelf and took a look herself.

"_Milestones in Technology, Geology and Science, Top 50 Ruins of the Dueling World, History of D-Pads, Spirit World Phenomenon..."_ Ryoko noted to herself while quickly scanning off titles of books before saying to Yuushi and the others, "What are these books for?"

Yuushi answered, "Those are my dad's. I've read a few of those myself but I'd prefer the textbooks I have in my room. His are a mix of personal interest and career notes while mine are just for my own interest. He has a lot more books than me though. I think that whole shelf are just his textbooks."

Hikaru picked up a video game, "Hey, Yuushi. Mind if I try this?"

Ayumi added in, "Can I see the other textbooks then? I mean the ones you have. I...I just want to see your which ones you have and see if I have anything like that too."

Looking back at the living room, Hikaru was sitting on the couch as Ryoko sat down as well and checked some information on her D-Pad. He trusted Hikaru and Ryoko enough to let them do whatever and Ayumi had never been in his room so she did not really know where to look.

"Alright, you guys can try that game. Ayumi wants to see something so I'm going to show her," Yuushi shouted back.

"Thanks," Hikaru shouted back while starting the game and picking up a controller as Ryoko watched him play.

Yuushi and Ayumi made their way upstairs as they entered Yuushi's room. There were a few books and papers on the computer desk as a small television on the other side. Beside Yuushi's bed was a bookshelf which was near a second story window. On the other side was a drawer and a closet full of clothes and other things.

The girl smiled a bit and looked around before making her way to the bookshelf and quickly scanning it, "_Duels of the Decade, Code: Story of the Wanderer, Code: Story of the Warrior, Academies of Duel Monsters..."_

After finishing her scan, Ayumi said to Yuushi who was now sitting on his bed, "You have a lot of books from the Code Series. I saw them in bookstores around Heartland Mall. I was thinking about looking over one myself. I'm guessing you like that series?"

"Yeah, I think the next in the series is coming out in a few months. I think it's called 'Code: Story of the Archsage'", Yuushi nodded with interest.

Ayumi asked, "So what exactly are they about?"

"It's about a world ruined by a unknown, malevolent force from long ago which was sealed by the legendary heroes. That evil force is rising again and the secret to defeating this force is encoded within the spirits of several people. So for the Story of the Wanderer, a spirit of a wanderer has the code, likewise for the warrior and probably the archsage too," the boy summarized.

"So it's medieval or science fiction or just fantasy?," the girl inquired.

Yuushi wasn't sure how to answer, "It's fantasy although there are things like ancient spaceships and dragons and lasers and a lot of other things like that."

"What about castles? Or maybe...", she asked again.

Before Ayumi could finish her question, Yuushi's D-Pad rang as he picked it up and saw that his father was calling. Yuushi hit a button as his father's face appeared on a virtual screen, "Yuushi, Ayumi. We have the results from our search on the co-ordinates you were given. Are Hikaru and Ryoko there?"

Yuushi responded, "They're in the living room I think."

"That's good. They are a part of all this too so I think it's only fair that they also hear the results as well," the doctor said back.

With both of them nodding in agreement, Yuushi and Ayumi went back to the living room and saw Hikaru and Ryoko playing a video game as explosions and dialogue were heard from the in-game characters.

"Hey, you two. What did you look at in Yuushi's room?", Hikaru asked half-looking at both the pair and the game.

Being more observant, Ryoko noticed an activated D-Pad in Yuushi's hand, "Is that your father calling?"

Ryoko paused the game as everyone was now listening to what Dr. Sakudo had to say about his findings as everyone gathered around Yuushi.

"To sum it all up quickly. We couldn't find anything abnormal or worth investigating," Dr. Sakudo said a tone of disappointment.

"What?!" exclaimed Yuushi.

"We couldn't find any strange phenomenon, energy readings, seismic activity or anything like that. At the very least, our tools couldn't detect anything," elaborated Dr. Sakudo.

Yuushi spoke up, "But there's no way that dragon warrior came all that way for nothing to waste his time. There has to be a reason he gave me those co-ordinates. I know for sure it wasn't a dream either so there has to be something there."

Ayumi agreed, "That map didn't get there by itself so like Yuushi said, there has to be some sort of reason behind it."

Dr. Sakudo added in, "I know how you feel. I tried to get approval for more tools to investigate but I got denied. The director said that it would be a waste of manpower and tools going off information that we aren't even 100% sure about. I know how you feel but my hands are tied. Sorry everyone."

Ryoko shook her head, "No need to say sorry, it's not your fault. Besides we can go and..."

"It's too dangerous. While I don't agree completely with the director, that is a good point. Even if there is something there, we don't know what exactly it is or how dangerous it can be. Let us handle it," Dr. Sakudo said raising his voice in concern.

"If Nightfall really is there...we can't just sit around and do nothing! We have to stop them!", yelled Hikaru.

Yuushi nodded, "Come on dad..."

"It couldn't hurt for us to do our own investigation, right?", Ayumi asked trying to convince Yuushi's father.

"Besides, Yuushi isn't going alone. He'll have us to back him up," Ryoko added in.

"Something tells me that no matter what I say, I can't stop you all. You're not kids anymore but...but...," Dr. Sakudo sighed loudly, "Rather than burdening you with my worry, I'd rather give you my own support. I'll help you the best I can if you promise me one thing. The moment you all see any signs of danger, you'll back out immediately. No questions asked."

Everyone nodded, "Alright. Sounds good,"

"Give me some time so that I can send you some data. First will be our report on what we found exactly and second will be a special program. It's a special two-way tracking system. Yuushi, I want you to install it so that I'll know exactly where you are incase something happens," Dr. Sakudo motioned while typing things on his own D-Pad.

Yuushi smiled, "Alright dad. Sounds good. I'll have it installed and we can head out to that clearing tomorrow."

"Then good luck and please stay safe," Dr. Sakudo stated sternly and looked at the four.

Hikaru chuckled, "You can count on us!"

Yuushi clenched his fist, "We'll have to prepare."

"Tomorrow it is then," confirmed Ryoko.

"Don't worry. We'll be safe. I have a few things I want to bring along," Ayumi mentioned.

* * *

><p>The next morning around noon, the four friends met up and made their way to the monorail station to the other side of Heartland City. They got off at the closest stop and started to make their way by bus over to the co-ordinates provided by the dragon warrior. Eventually, the group arrived in a forest as various sorts of trees surrounded the high school students. Yuushi kept looking at his D-Pad which was acting as their map and general guide. Not only did Yuushi's D-Pad contain the map but it also had the program his father gave him which acted as a two-way signal that would let Dr. Sakudo know where his son's group was at all times. A light breeze blew past the group which rustled the leaves and grass around them.<p>

"So we're pretty close. Do you guys see anything? This is hard", Hikaru complained while looking around for anything suspicious.

"Well we're not even sure there's really anything here and besides, if there was, I doubt there'd be a big sign saying 'It's here'," Ryoko said sarcastically.

Yuushi was looking at the map, "We're not exactly there but we're getting quite close."

Ayumi looked around, "Well, look at it this way. Half the excitement is the chance of finding something, right?"

The sun was shining down on the forest as everything could clearly be seen yet after an hour or so, things were not any better. Just as Yuushi's father had said, the group couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. By this time, the group was in an open clearing with a path down the center and a few bushes with the forest all around them.

"Can't this map be any more specific?," Hikaru moaned as he sat down for a moment.

Ayumi took a closer look around, "So if this doesn't work? We need to think of another place to try."

Yuushi looked at the map again, "It's as zoomed-in as it'll go. It's just going to keep beeping this spot whether we like it or not."

Ryoko looked at the sky, "At least it's not that hot. A few clouds are probably going to roll in soon. If there's something here though, we'll find it. You can count on that."

Ayumi examined a tall tree, "It's still going to take some time."

"_There has to be something,"_ Yuushi thought to himself before pulling out his Arcanite Magician card, _"Something otherworldly like that doesn't happen all the time. There has to be a reason, a reason that led me here. This Trial of the Two, there has to be something we're missing."_

Without warning, a surge of light radiated from Arcanite Magician as Yuushi felt a strange presence. The light caught the attention of Yuushi's friends as they all gathered around and looked in amazement.

"Uh...this is good right?" questioned Hikaru.

Yuushi didn't know exactly what to say, "I guess. It certainly is different."

After Hikaru finished his sentence, the group noticed a second radiant light towards a group of rocks in the distance. Everyone looked to the others and began walking to the rock until they finally arrived and saw that it was a specific rock emitting that glow.

"Well that definitely wasn't there before," Ryoko said after realizing that she just stated the obvious.

"Yuushi, you should get closer and see what happens," Ayumi suggested.

Yuushi nodded and went closer as everyone else followed. The boy raised his card towards the glowing stone as a white circle of light formed around everyone.

Hikaru turned his head, "So now..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the light surrounded the group as they vanished of the clearing and into another location.

* * *

><p>The group had their eyes closed but as the light faded, they opened their eyes again and realized that they were in a very different location. It seemed to be some sort of hybrid of building and ruin as there was a large structure in the center but it didn't seem to resemble any sort of modern style building.<p>

"Now, where are we?!", Hikaru shouted.

Everyone shushed him as Yuushi explained in a much quieter voice, "Don't yell like that. We need to figure out what's going on before we do anything. I'm nervous too but...oh, let me see something."

After pulling up his D-Pad and confirming his suspicions, Yuushi sighed, "Well the signals blocked. On one hand, we can't contact my dad or anyone else but on the other hand, they know we're gone and that eventually my dad will probably send someone over to investigate."

Ayumi analyzed the area, "That's good but there's a lot of worse news. We don't know where we are for one thing so how will your dad or anyone else know where we are?"

Now Ryoko was the one moving towards a wall and looking around the corner. She could not see anything except the entrance to the dark ruined building, "That light isn't there anymore right? Yuushi, try to pull out Arcanite Magician like last time. Maybe we can get out of here using the same thing.

Yuushi agreed and pulled out his card which was now emitting a much fainter glow but this time only the card itself was glowing and there were no other background objects or symbols that were glowing as well.

"Looks like it's a one-way entrance," Yuushi acknowledged and continued, "We can either sit here and wait or we can try to find out more about where we are and maybe get out."

The group thought about it before Hikaru spoke up, "Well if we stay we're not getting out for sure but if we go around, we might be able to get out."

Ryoko countered, "On the other hand, if we move we might get into trouble."

Hikaru replied, "So it's either not getting our for sure or the chance of getting out. I say we take our chances."

Yuushi could see both the pros and cons as he sighed, "I'm alright with anything. Hard to say what's the right move at this point but we have to decide on a course of action for sure."

Ayumi and Hikaru started to move forward as Ryoko and Yuushi followed behind. They moved their way inside the building with some caution as now they were in an unknown area. Yuushi was especially cautious as his Arcanite Magician was still glowing

"_This card is trying to tell me something. Is this really where the other person in the Trial of the Two is? Is this where Nightfall's base is and where Koji is as well?"_, Yuushi contemplated.

The group wandered around as they used their D-Pads as a faint source of light. Yuushi and Ayumi looked around for any sign indicating where they were while Ryoko looked behind for anything suspicious as Hikaru took the lead. However, nobody knew where anything was as not only was it dark but there were no clear landmarks or things that stood out. The four took a left and were soon met with two more passages and a dark hall.

"You have to be kidding me. This looks just like that other passage from a few minutes ago. Which was do we go?", moaned Hikaru while trying to keep his voice down.

"I hate to say it but at the rate we're going, we're not going to get anywhere. I'm not one to give up but even the atmosphere is depressing," Ryoko confessed.

Yuushi tried to think with positivity, "There has to be something...anything that can tell us where we are. This isn't like a maze, it's a structure."

Looking around in the dim hall, Ayumi saw something on the wall as she walked towards it and pulled out her silver D-Pad followed by a few wires. She connected the wires to a small outlet in the wall as her D-Pad started to make some noises. After she quickly began to type as screens and data started to flow onto her screen.

"So what are you doing?," Hikaru asked.

"_Error. Access Denied," _Ayumi read to herself as her fingers increased in typing speed.

Ryoko looked at the screen, "Ayumi's probably trying to hack and figure out where we are using the database that is somewhere and connected to the building. She'll need to concentrate."

Yuushi looked around for anything coming, "This will probably take some time."

More beeping noises could be heard as more screens and words prompting commands appeared. Ayumi seemed bothered by the stream of failed messages but she rapidly went through all the data and kept typing in things. Everyone looked at her D-Pad but still the 'Error', 'Access Denied', 'Could not complete task' kept flashing and disappearing as the girl kept typing.

"So now what?", Yuushi wondered outloud not knowing anything about hacking.

Ayumi kept staring at her D-Pad's screen, "It's hard to get access from here but...almost there...got it!"

Everyone was excited as a map of the building appeared with everyone briefly scanning the layout. They were on the main floor and there were two floors below them.

"According to this data, the entire area has some sort of disabled or weakened security so it's best to stay on our toes," continued Ayumi.

Ryoko wondered, "Do you think that light that got us here was some sort of security measure?"

"It's hard to tell. This building doesn't seem like much but there has to be a reason for this security and the hidden entrance," Ayumi declared as she kept typing.

"If there's security, then there's probably something here that someone is trying to hide," Yuushi deduced.

Ayumi agreed, "Let's see what we can find. The bottom floor is the most likely place to hide something with a layout like this. However, the security is probably the tightest there as well. Not only that, but I'm sensing a massive amount of strange energy being concentrated there. That's a dangerous amount of power and it seems to be building up. The energy...it's similar to the readings from the Iron Curtain."

Hikaru was surprised, "So that means that this might really be Nightfall's base..."

"I'll see if I can get anything else," mentioned Ayumi as she started to type. However, a few moments later, red screens began to rapidly appear on her D-Pad as Ayumi seemed concerned now. Her concern got worse as her typing speed picked up even more now. Like a machine, she went through all the data at an accelerated pace when the D-Pad suddenly locked up and there was a projected screen-wide image of a Duel Field as Ayumi activated her D-Gazer as the D-Pad emitted a small virtual Duel Field above her D-Pad. Everyone else followed suit and saw the field as well.

"What's going on?" Yuushi questioned half-confused.

Ayumi shook her head, "I tried to disable the security to make things easier for us. The good news is that we found some information and security is currently offline without anyone knowing. The bad news though is that I was almost found out so I had to try to lock the security system and I couldn't do it fully which led to this."

"So...what...what exactly is this," Hikaru stuttered out after seeing a 25 minute timer at the top right of the virtual field which was now counting down.

"After battling some code, I was about to freeze the security system in this duel for a short period of time. However if the time expires or we can't force the computer opponent to lose the duel, the security system will not only activate but will be in full force. That's not good because the security system can lock doors and activate other traps", explained Ayumi.

Yuushi didn't like the sound of that, "Then does that mean someone has to stay behind then? If so, then which one of us will it be."

The group wondered for a bit before Hikaru spoke up, "No time to think. I'll..."

"I'll do it then," volunteered Ryoko, "Honestly, I didn't really study that map much so I don't remember much about it."

"But...", Ayumi tried to counter.

"It's like Hikaru said, we have no time to think about this. Just go on. I'll beat this computer for sure," Ryoko said trying to reassure herself and her friends.

Yuushi looked around, "Alright. Then we'll leave things to you then."

The others were not completely comfortable leaving Ryoko behind but time was not on their side as everyone reluctantly agreed.

"Let me do one thing then," Ayumi suggested as she got out another wire and connected her silver D-Pad to Ryoko's as she began to transfer data about the base over to Ryoko's D-Pad.

"Take my D-Pad then," Ryoko said as she took out the wires and handed her D-Pad over to Ayumi as she then slotted her own deck into Ayumi's D-Pad and Duel Disk. Ayumi took her D-Pad off her arm as Ryoko put on the silver accessory ready to face off against her digital opponent.

The other three began to move and looked at the transferred map now with Ayumi on Ryoko's D-Pad as Hikaru looked back to her, "Good luck."

Yuushi told her, "If you see anything, you can contact us inside the base and if it gets really bad, then just bail."

Ryoko chuckled, "Come on. Have some faith in me. I'll have this scrapheap down in no time and it can cry to it's motherboard."

Despite the joke, now wasn't the time as the other three headed off deeper into the base leaving Ryoko alone with her computerized opponent.

"AR Vision, Link Complete."

The brown-red haired girl drew five cards as five cards also digitized into her opponent's hand with the timer now at 23:27.

"Duel!"

Ryoko- 4000 LP  
>Computer- 4000 LP<p>

The computer opponent drew a card to start the duel off, "My turn. From my hand, I summon Geargiano Mk-II."

A card materialized onto the field as a yellow, red and blue gear popped out. After the gear turned around, Ryoko noticed it had gear-like eyeballs and even a rubber hand and spring arms. She had to admit that for a gear, it was certainly one happy looking gear. (ATK: 1000, Level 3).

"I activate my monster's effect when it's Normal Summoned. Now I can Special Summon a 'Geargia' monster from my hand or graveyard in face-up Defense Position. Summoning forth Geargiarmor from my hand."

This time a robotic yellow and bulky monster emerged. Upon closer inspection, it just seemed like a modified Geargiano Mk-II except it was riding in a tin yellow robotic suit with legs and shields attached to both its arms. The robot crouched down and put both shields forward to defend itself (DEF: 1900, Level 4).

"Now I will activate a Spell Card, Resonance Device," the computer continued.

A green card showed itself with an image of Warrior Lady of the Wasteland and Marauding Captain on a strange green platform.

"Since my two monsters are Earth Attribute and Machine Type with different levels, I can make both their Levels the same as each other. They shall now be classified as Level 4 monsters."

"This isn't good," Ryoko muttered to herself.

The three Level Stars of Geargiano Mk-II suddenly made a strange noise as the three stars expanded into four stars (Geargiano Mk-II Level: 4).

"Initiating Xyz Summon by overlaying my two Level 4 monsters. Using both of my monsters to build an Overlay Network to Xyz Summon Gear Gigant X."

The two monsters turned into brown rays of light that shot upwards through a virtual red portal in the sky. After being drawn into the red portal, it exploded and revealed a different much different monster. In front of Ryoko was a warrior made of blue, green and red gears with a large blue gear on its back and metal knuckles along with two brown Overlay Units. The machine roared and punched twice, almost as if warming up for a battle as its blue visor had a slight glare to it (ATK: 2300, Rank 4, OU: 2).

"Need to further bolster available resources with Gear Gigant X's effect. By detaching an Overlay Unit, Geargiano Mk-II, from Gear Gigant X a Level 4 or lower Machine-Type monster is added to my hand from my deck or graveyard. Calculating...Factoring in possible events...Acquiring Geargiaccelerator from deck."

"_Factoring in possible events..."_, Ryoko thought to herself hearing those words.

One of Gear Gigant X's Overlay Units were absorbed into the giant blue gear on the monster's back (OU: 1) as it spun rapidly and gave off a shining light that responded to the computer's deck as the opponent revealed Geargiaccelerator to Ryoko and added it to its hand.

"Concluding turn now," the computer monotonously stated.

Ryoko put her hand over her deck, "Then it's my turn now!"

She drew and looked at her hand and then the field and finally back to her hand, _"That Gear Gigant X can beat any card I have in my hand and any card that I can summon out right now. Even 2300 ATK is too much for me at this point but my deck has other ways to attack other than battle."_

"I place this card face-down and I'll also set this one card down too and that's it for me," the girl finished as a horizontal face-down monster appeared in front of another face-down behind it in a different zone.

The computer started its next turn, "It is my turn and once again, I detach an Overlay Unit from Gear Gigant X to activate its effect. Once again, I will add Geargiaccelerator from my deck to my hand."

A card slotted out from the opponent's virtual deck and Geargiaccelerator was added to its hand once more making it the second one at least (OU: 0).

"Commencing summon of Geargiano to my side of the field in ATK mode."

This new machine looked almost exactly the same as its counterpart Geargiano Mk-II except instead of being yellow, red and blue, this monster was green, red and silver. Nevertheless, the gear seemed to emit a positive atmosphere as it pumped its fist upwards (ATK: 500, Level 3).

"Hold it!", Ryoko shouted and motioned with her arm forward as her Trap Card activated in response, "Now that your Normal Summon is used up, now's the time to strike! My Icarus Attack trap lets me Tribute my face-down Mist Valley Shaman so I can destroy two cards on the field. So attack Mist Valley Shaman! Destroy both of his monsters at once!"

Ryoko's monster, a purple and white clothed human-bird female hybrid leaped out from its card and flew into the air. White-purple orbs rained down which quickly disappeared as Mist Valley Shaman turned into a red fireball in the sky. The Winged-Beast monster dove down and crashed onto the ground between both Gear Gigant X and Geargiano triggering an explosion that wiped all three monsters off the field.

As the smoke cleared however, there was in actuality a monster still on the computer duelist's side of the field. After being completely visible, the monster was Geargiano Mk-II as it cheered and put its hand into a victory sign (Geargiano Mk-II ATK: 1000, Level 3).

The Mist Valley duelist was at a loss for words, "What...how did...what..."

"As Gear Gigant X left the field, its effect activated allowing me to Special Summon a single Level 3 or lower 'Geargia' monster from my graveyard. Thus, I can Special Summon a monster with that condition such as Geargiano Mk-II," the computer duelist explained before moving on, "Calculating optimal move...Now Geargiaccelerator can be Special Summoned in face-up DEF position since I control a 'Geargia'."

Hearing the sound of a race car caught Ryoko's attention as the vehicle in question swerved onto the computer's side of the field and did a sharp left turn before stopping. This time it looked as if a light purple Geargiano was in the driver's seat of the blue, silver and gold patterned car which its hand pointing to the sky (DEF: 800, Level 4).

"Proceeding with Battle Phase. Geargiano Mk-II attack opponent directly," ordered the machine. The gear monster jumped into the air and punched Ryoko as the virtual image went straight through her though she felt a minor knockback effect as she quickly recovered

Ryoko- 3000 LP  
>Computer- 4000 LP<p>

"I now place one card face-down and end my turn."

Ryoko thought over the last turn, _"I know there's at least another Geargiaccelerator in that computer's hand so why didn't it just Special Summon it too. Is it afraid that it'll get destroyed as well? I know it has to go in DEF mode and can't attack thanks to it's effect if it's Special Summoned but that's another line of defense right? Timer is at 9:19."_

It could have been anything but she didn't think about it anymore as the clock was counting down. She drew Mist Valley Executor as she smiled, "I think it's time that I really fight back. I play Cost Down which works when I discard a card from my hand. Now every monster in my hand has their Levels lowered by two. Now then! No Tribute is needed for Mist Valley Executor."

A flash of lightning struck down on the battlefield and revealed Ryoko's monster which was a muscular male human-bird hybrid with black wings, talons and ancient garbs (ATK: 2100, Level 5).

"This monster does have an effect when it's Normal Summoned but it won't work at this point. Although that's not the reason I summoned him out. Time for my second monster to make its appearance!"

A shriek could be heard above as another Winged-Beast monster descended downwards. This creature was mostly a red bird with matching wings though its head seemed like a large skull with horns and feathers attached to it (ATK: 400, Level 2 Tuner)

Ryoko explained, "The card I sent to the graveyard from my hand for Cost Down was Mist Valley Baby Roc which can Special Summon itself when its sent from my hand to my graveyard. Now that I have these two monsters, it's time for a Synchro Summon! Now my Level 2 Baby Roc will tune with my Level 5 Executor!"

Both monsters flew into the air as a flash of light occurred. From the light, two green rings surrounded Mist Valley Executor who was now an orange wireframe of itself as the monster turned into five white lights.

"The power of Mist Valley graces through the winds! Soaring above with the strength of the storms! Synchro Summon! Descend, Mist Valley Thunder Lord!"

The light disappeared and a flash of thunder roared though the battlefield. A large black-winged green-golden birdman flew downwards and landed. It had golden talons and shining metal hooks at the end of its arms. As it landed, it sounded as if lightning had struck as the monster's presence was known (ATK: 2600, Level 7).

Ryoko grabbed a card in her hand, "Now that my ace monster is here, I'll set this card down but it won't be around much longer because I'll also use Mist Valley Thunder Lord's effect."

A face-down card digitized onto the field but Thunder Lord shrieked and roared as the face-down was blown back to Ryoko's hand as the monster now had a thunderous aura (Thunder Lord ATK: 2600+500= 3100 ATK).

"It gained 500 ATK since I returned a card I controlled to my hand. Now I'll really move in for the attack! Mist Valley Thunder Lord attack Geargiano Mk-II! Thunder Stream!"

On the monster's call, a lightning bolt struck Mist Valley Thunder Lord as the monster absorbed the power into its hands. With a quick redirection, the lightning bolt powered up and blasted Geargiano Mk-II who exploded into pieces.

Ryoko- 3000 LP  
>Computer- 1900 LP<p>

"I'll end my turn with a face-down. Lastly, My Thunder Lord's effect wears out at the end of the turn so that means it returns back to normal", Ryoko stated as her face-down appeared on the field (Thunder Lord ATK: 3100-500= 2600 ATK).

"Computing data on the field...Powerful high Level monster...Processing counter-strategy. Counter-strategy configured. To neutralize this powerful monster, I shall call on a more powerful monster with my current preparation," the computer bluntly told Ryoko.

Ryoko didn't like the sound of that, "What more powerful monster..."

The computer ignored her and continued monotonously, "Revealing the Trap Card, Geargiagear. Due to this card's effect, I can Special Summon two 'Geargiano' monsters from my deck and they gain a Level. The monsters I select are Geargiano and Geargiano Mk-II."

A truck emerged from the Trap Card as the roof of the truck opened up as the mostly silver Geargiano and the mostly gold Geargiano Mk-II jumped out onto the computer duelists's side of the field with a faint orange glow (Geargiano ATK: 500, Level: 3+1= 4) (Geargiano Mk-II ATK: 1000, Level 3+1= 4).

Now Ryoko was getting worried, "Even though I have my most powerful monster on the field, this thing has three Level 4 monsters now!"

"I switch the Geargiaccelerator I currently have to ATK position," the computer ordered.

With that, the race car revved itself up while straightening itself towards Ryoko. The booming of the engine was quite loud as it roared throughout the battlefield (ATK: 1400). In the corner of her eye, Ryoko noticed that the timer was at 4:55.

The computer moved a card forward, "Since I control a 'Geargia' monster, I can Special Summon Geargiaccelerator from my hand in face-up DEF position."

Similar to before, another Geargiano-driven race-car sped up from out of nowhere and performed a large swerve as the monster parked itself between Mist Valley Thunder Lord and the computer duelist (DEF: 800, Level 4).

"Now I activate a Spell Card, Overhaul."

This card materialized onto the field as the computer went into further detail on what it did, "This card gives my Machine-type monsters another Level making them all Level 5 monsters."

Ryoko noticed that the four machines had their Levels indicated as a flash of light brought their four Level stars up to five Level stars (Geargiaccelerator Level: 4+1= 5) (Geargiaccelerator Level: 4+1= 5) (Geargiano Level: 4+1= 5) (Geargiano Mk-II Level: 4+1= 5).

The Mist Valley duelist was even more shocked as she gasped, "What?! There are four Level 5 monsters now...seriously?!"

"Correct. Now Overlaying the Level 5 Geargiaccelerator in DEF mode, Geargiano and Geargiano Mk-II to perform an Xyz Summon."

A bright red portal opened up in the center of the battlefield as the monsters converted themselves to brown rays of light which were sucked into the portal.

"I construct the Overlay Network with these three monsters. Xyz Summon. Digvorzhak, King of Heavy Industry with an ATK value of 3200."

The computer did not even sound that excited but it was a machine still so Ryoko could not exactly fault it for being the way it was programmed. However, the red portal disappeared as the battlefield began to shake. To say this machine was colossal would be an understatement as even Ryoko's Mist Valley Thunderlord, a large monster in its own right was towered over by one of Digvorzhak's excavating arms. Even by just landing on the field, a large dust cloud blasted out at Ryoko who used her arm to shield her face from the dust. After the landing, Ryoko could see that the monster seemed like a large orange and steel excavator of some sort with two massive arms that stretched in front (ATK: 3200, Rank 5, OU: 3).

"Digvorzhak's effect shall now be used by removing an Overlay Unit," announced the computer as one of its monster's brown Overlay Units were drawn into one of its arms near the center (OU: 2) before the computer went on, "The top three cards of your deck shall now go to the graveyard and additionally for each monster sent to the graveyard with this effect, the same number of cards you control will be eliminated as well."

She drew three cards which were Mist Valley Apex Avian, Swords of Revealing Light and Mist Valley Falcon and sent them into the graveyard as Digvorzhak began powering up.

"Now because two monsters were sent to the graveyard, Digvorzhak will destroy two cards on your field. Targeting Mist Valley Thunder Lord and opponent's face-down card."

The two bladed wheels on the edges of the machine's arms began to spin and speed up rapidly as each arm targeted one card on Ryoko' field. Knowing that neither would survive, Ryoko made her move, "I'd rather use my trap than see it bulldozed. Compulsory Evacuation Device lets me return your monster back to your hand but since Xyz Monsters can't go to the hand, it'll go to your Extra Deck instead!"

The rotating edges struck and demolished both Ryoko's cards as her ace disappeared into particles. Following that, a light surrounded Digvorzhak as it began to vanish but not before triggering a huge explosion of dust which caused Ryoko to slide back from the impact as she shielded her eyes. When the dust settled, the only card left on the demolished field was the computer duelist's Geargiaccelerator.

"Duelist, you are open to a Direct Attack Geargiaccelerator, attack opponent directly," the machine said as the race car sped up and rammed Ryoko. Though she took no damage as her opponent was simply virtual, her Life Points still took a hit.

Ryoko- 1600 LP  
>Computer- 1900 LP<p>

"Ending turn with a face-down."

As the face-down formed on the field, Ryoko could feel the pressure seeing as she had nothing on the field, _"I can't let everyone down. I told everyone that I'd win so that they wouldn't have to deal with that security. Everyone's counting on me to clear the way and let them make it through this place in one piece. I've been improving as a duelist so that I could keep up with everyone and have some great duels in the future. I'm not going to be the one to let everyone down...so it all comes down to this! As long as the wind keeps blowing, I'm going to keep on moving with it."_

"My draw!", Ryoko shouted as she drew a Monster card, "This is it! I summon Mist Valley Soldier!"

A gale blew past the field as a white-winged and blue robed winged human flew down. The Mist Valley monster landed and looked up at Geargiaccelerator. While the bottom half of its face was obstructed by a blue cloth, anyone could tell that it had a fearsome gaze as it brandished out both of its daggers in its hands (ATK: 1700, Level 4 Tuner).

"Now I Special Summon this monster from my hand by banishing a Wind Monster from my graveyard so that I can bring out Garuda the Wind Spirit!"

After banishing Mist Valley Falcon from her graveyard, a blue portal opened up in the center of the battlefield as another Winged-Beast Monster flew out leaving a trail of white light behind it. The monster circled once around the battlefield with its speed before the light disappeared and revealed a red and yellow colored bird-human hybrid with red pants and an orange cloth sash (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

Now Ryoko pointed up to the sky, "You saw a Synchro Summon last time so let's change things up a bit! I Overlay the Level 4 Mist Valley Soldier and Garuda the Wind Spirit!"

Both of the brown-red haired girl's monsters turned into green rays of light. At the area she pointed, red particles of light converged as a red portal opened up drawing in both green rays. With the portal exploding outwards, a red tint of light temporarily covered the battlefield while blue and white lightning crackled all around the portal before disappearing.

"With both these monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Show yourself, Lightning Chidori!"

With a fearsome bird's cry, the lightning took the form of a large bird as eyes, wings, talons and a mouth formed. At the center of the beast was a larger concentration of white lightning acting as a core or heart while two green Overlay Units surrounded it (ATK: 1900, Rank 4, OU: 2).

"Right now, Lightning Chidori's first effect activates when it's Xyz Summoned! That set card you have will go to the bottom of your deck!"

A flash of lightning struck down from out of nowhere as the set card was engulfed in a white light before vanishing into particles of white light off the field. Unbeknownst to Ryoko, the face-down that the machine had was Mirror Force but she was still glad that it was one less card to deal with.

She moved on, "That's not the only card being blown away! Lightning Chidori's other effect can bring about a storm too! In a powerful thunderstorm, not only is there lightning but there's also a strong wind too! A face-up card that my opponent controls can be sent to the top of their deck once per turn by detaching an Overlay Unit!

Despite being made of lightning, Ryoko's monster shrieked as a massive gust of wind suddenly blew into the area. Even Ryoko had to stand her ground to keep her balance but Geargiaccelerator could not hang on as the race car was tossed through the air and disappeared leaving the opponent's side of the field wide open!

"Now attack the opponent directly! Blast through the walls that hinder our friends and pave the way for their success!"

The lightning bird took flight before charging forward. It left a path of white lightning as Ryoko's monster charged straight through the virtual duelist. After a large explosion, black smoke covered the digital battlefield which soon disappeared into bits of data.

Ryoko- 1600 LP- WIN  
>Computer- 0 LP<p>

Ryoko sighed with relief and looked at Ayumi's D-Pad. Now nothing seemed out of the ordinary as she could not see the timer anymore. Based on the fact that no alarms or anything had triggered by now, she assumed that for the time at least, the security was disabled. However, she had a different job now which was to monitor this D-Pad and report if there were any abnormalities.

"_Ayumi, Hikaru, Yuushi...take care of yourselves and then when this is all over, let's return back home,"_ the girl prayed as the situation was now out of her hands.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 27 Preview<strong>

Yuushi: Everything seems quiet. Looks like Ryoko did it.

Hikaru: I'll have to buy her something to pay her back. Now that the security is down, things should be easier right? Wait...

Ayumi: We're almost down to the next floor! Hikaru, are you sure about this?!

Yuushi: Alright, we'll trust you on this. Make sure that you'll be alright!

Hikaru: Of course, I have a score to settle and not only that but...You guys go on! Chapter 27: Sibling's Ignition. I'm not here just for a duel. There's something else I have to do here.


	28. Chapter 27: Sibling's Ignition

Quietly moving around, Yuushi, Ayumi and Hikaru turned a corner and moved quickly with caution as Ayumi looked at Ryoko's D-Pad which contained hacked information about the layout of the area.

"Ayumi, are you sure we're going the right way? It's taking forever," Hikaru asked with some doubt after seeing nothing for a while.

Ayumi double-checked and nodded, "There should be some stairs soon leading to the floor below. After that we need to find another descending set of stairs to reach the lowest floor where that massive amount of energy is. It takes some time though since this building is a lot larger than it looks."

Yuushi commented, "Whatever that energy is used for, it'll probably be for something huge."

The group continued where Ayumi indicated as the hallway took a turn.

"Do you really think the security is deactivated?," Yuushi commented.

Hikaru took the lead, "Seems like Ryoko did a good enough job to me. Even if not, we don't have time to worry about that."

Ayumi went forward too, "The most important thing now is to search for either a way out or a way down to shut down that energy source."

After some observation Yuushi noted, "It's large and all but there has to be a way down."

The group went down the hall and saw a large metal door. The door opened and the trio went inside and noticed there was only one path to go which was a square-spiral that was descending into a dark area below.

"It certainly goes down and it's close to the staircase indicated on this blueprint. Even the energy readings have increased slightly. I guess this is it," Ayumi replied.

Yuushi adjusted his glasses trying to gauge the depth of this area, "No good. All I see is black and more black. Only way we're going to see if it goes anywhere is to go down ourselves."

The blue-black haired boy started going down, "Then what are we waiting for?"

Eventually, the trio made their way to the bottom of the stairs where there was another metal door and a red switch beside it. Normally, the switch would be guarded by a thick glass cover but with no security, the button was open for anyone to hit.

Nobody really said anything as Hikaru walked up and pressed the switch as it turned green and the door opened. Everything seemed pretty much the same with the same empty passageways, darkness and general sense of confusion.

"At least we're a bit deeper in," Yuushi said trying to maintain a somewhat positive mood for everyone.

"Yeah...," Ayumi answered back trying not to sound sarcastic.

Looking at Ryoko's D-Pad again, Ayumi zoomed in on their location and noticed that they were coming up to a larger room as she conveyed her info, "There's a large room ahead. If we take the southern passage for a while then go west in a straight line, it should take us to the stairs or passage to the bottom floor.

In a few minutes, the group reached another set of large doors which normally would be shut due to security but since there was no active security, the door automatically opened for the three high schoolers as they entered inside.

* * *

><p>Inside was much different than the bland outer areas. For one thing, there were lights almost everywhere from different sources ranging from the ceiling, walls and various active devices around.<p>

"Wonder what this is doing here?," Hikaru wondered.

After a closer look, Yuushi realized that although a few monitors and screens were on, the vast majority of them were actually in fact offline which made Yuushi question in his mind where they were.

Ayumi checked something, "I can tell you now that this room was probably used for something seeing as how there are so many computers. Now though, maybe the data or research or whatever they were doing has either moved or been shut down."

Something caught Ayumi's eye as she wandered to a right monitor with the boys following her.

Yuushi noticed a strange graph and analyzed it, "Whatever they were doing here, it seems to be complete based off how the readings on this chart are already at a target level. In any case, let's just keep going."

The three turned their eyes towards the southern door where they noticed someone else at another door. There was clearly a lone figure as the individual spoke up in a female voice, "I had heard that you were awake Hikaru and to be honest, I thought those reports were just full of it yet here you and your friend Yuushi stand."

The red-haired female stepped forward and nobody recognized her except Hikaru.

"Who are you anyways?!," demanded Yuushi.

"Shiho. She's an Underground Duelist and a part of Nightfall. If you wanted to know who put me in that coma, there you go. So what are you doing here?", Hikaru shouted while giving a quick profile.

Ayumi was shocked, "Did you just say Underground Duelist? I thought those types of duels were suppose to be banned for their brutal and violent nature."

Shiho shook her head, "Just as braindead as ever and that girl there seems just as stupid. As for why I'm here, it should be obvious right? I'm here to stop you."

"We're not braindead!," countered Hikaru.

"You can't stop all of us," Yuushi said with confidence.

Shiho readied her Duel Disk, "You're right, I can't stop all of you myself. However, you really have two choices here. You can either spend your already short time here with me or you can split off to stop our ultimate plan. I promise you that I'm not bluffing."

Hikaru thought it was a bluff but something on Ayumi's D-Pad started to beep as she looked on her screen.

"That collected energy at the bottom...it's started to get destabilized...someone's planning to use it soon! With that much energy, that would...no! That can't be right...," the girl started to tell the others in disbelief.

Yuushi interrupted, "What can't be right?"

Ayumi did a further reading, "With this amount of energy, they could easily level a city...no, even more than that!"

"You got to be kidding me!," Hikaru yelled with surprise and anger.

"A city is thinking too small for this amount of power. Our target isn't Heartland City or any other city for that matter. As a matter of fact, not a single human will be harmed," Shiho said slotting in her Duel Disk preparing for a duel.

"_Not a single person. That's good but I doubt they gathered that energy just to show off...it's going to be used for something,"_ Yuushi contemplated to himself before speaking, "Maybe we can see what their target is or how to stop it. If they're rendering duelists in that comatose-like state I doubt this'll be anything good."

Again, Hikaru stepped forward except this time he had his own deck slotted into his Duel Disk already as he looked to his two friends.

"We can't all just sit here. I'll handle things here! If she wants a duel, then I'll give her one!," commanded the Laval duelist as he had an intense look on his face.

"Fine with me. Besides, I don't like leaving a job half unfinished. Once I'm finished here, even if you do get up, you won't want to duel again," Shiho threatened.

Ayumi spoke up softly, "Hikaru..."

Yuushi looked at the situation, "We can't waste our time here like Hikaru said and he knows her deck and dueling style better than any of us. I don't think he'll back down from a challenge he's accepted."

The boy looked over to Ayumi and motioned to the southern door, "Just be careful alright?"

Now the girl looked worried but the two spectators took off as Hikaru and Shiho didn't even glance at their escape as the door opened leaving the two people in that room.

"I'm honestly surprised you and your friends came down here but I guess Koji really wasn't kidding," commented Shiho as she looked at the boy.

"_They knew we were coming...Ryoko, you'd better be alright. That's mean that Yuushi and Ayumi might be in trouble too. I'd better finish this up and head down,"_ Hikaru thought to himself with some worry.

Shiho looked to Hikaru, "You have some good friends if they willingly came down here. Doesn't change the fact that they make me sick. You know that saying right? Those who stay together, fall together."

The boy then looked back a bit offended at the insult, "Are we just talking or are we dueling here?!"

"You sure are impatient but so am I!", the red-haired girl shouted back.

With a swift single motion, both duelists drew their five cards as they stood far apart on different sides of the room. Hikaru activated his green eyepiece D-Gazer while Shiho's contact lens D-Gazer activated as well but unlike before, Shiho did not send that special card to the graveyard which normally would activate the Iron Curtain.

"_Guess we're not dueling in that weird curtain thing. Good!"_, noted Hikaru with relief.

"Duel!"

Hikaru- 4000 LP  
>Shiho- 4000 LP<p>

"It's my draw!," Shiho shouted as she started the first turn, "I'll set this two cards down and after, I'm summoning Nemesis Knight in ATK mode!"

Two face-down cards materialized in her Spell/Trap Zone followed by a third vertical Monster Card in front. Emerging out was a completely armored black knight that drew out its sword and took a step forward preparing to battle. The step triggered some dust to pick up as the only visible thing on the knight that wasn't covered or black was its glowing red eyes (ATK: 1200, Level 3).

Hikaru remarked, "Not a very tough monster."

"I don't really need this card on the field so I'll use its effect. By Tributing this card, you'll take 400 points of damage and I can draw a card right afterwards," the Nemesis duelist stated.

An ominous red aura coated the knight who charged forward as a red beam of light collided into Hikaru sending him flying back as he cried in pain. Both the light and the monster vanished after impact.

Hikaru- 3600 LP  
>Shiho- 4000 LP<p>

It took a few moments for Hikaru to register what had just happened to him. It wasn't that he lost Life Points as 400 was not really all that much, especially out of 4000 but rather the shock of feeling physical pain. He was already battered as a slight pain built up in his chest.

Though Hikaru did not really say nothing, his face spoke volumes as Shiho picked up on his worry after drawing her card and said, "Guess it's a bit late for me to warn you. Like in our previous duel, whenever you lose Life Points you'll take real damage just like in an Underground Duel."

"But we're not in that weird place like last time!", Hikaru snapped back.

Shiho shook her head, "That's obvious. However, this building itself is much closer to the border of the Spirit World from the world that you're so used to which makes it ideal for our plan. Well, you should be more worried since we're closer to the Spirit World which means that the rules of Duel Monsters change a bit which has been true since the ancient past."

Hikaru panted, "So that's where the damage is coming from..."

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, Yuushi and Ayumi were suddenly caught off guard by a strange noise followed by a minor quake.<p>

Ayumi gasped, "Does that mean the duel started?"

Yuushi seemed concerned, "But why would the ground shake?"

The boy looked over the girl's shoulder onto the map and noticed that the next set of descending stairs were just around a few corners.

"We have to keep moving," Yuushi said quietly as the two kept sprinting.

* * *

><p>Back to the duel, the Nightfall duelist grinned, "Your turn. I have an open field so let's see what you got."<p>

Though this invitation to attack with two face-downs on the opponent's field would cause some duelists to analyze things, all Hikaru saw was a chance to inflict some major damage and get a lead which is all he needed to make an offensive charge.

"My turn then! Hah!," shouted the blue-black haired duelist as he drew his sixth card, "I'm going to heat things up with my Molten Transmission Spell Card."

Hikaru's graveyard blew out a blast of hot wind followed by a fiery orange glow. The gust of wind was not very strong but it was still noticeable as the boy grabbed his deck and tossed two cards into the heated gust from his Duel Disk.

"I'll send Laval Lady of the Burning Lake and Laval Cannon to the graveyard. Now I'll summon something that you don't have on the field right now, a monster. Come on out, Laval Guuner!"

The card digitized onto the field which happened before a thin orange rock golem with metal armor, boots and wristbands sprung out. On its face were goggles with red lenses and out of the wristbands, small cannons of magma extended out. Despite the tremendous heat, the armor did not even lose shape as the monster prepared for a fight (ATK: 1200, Level 4).

"Now for my monster's effect. I have a 'Laval' monster in the graveyard not named Laval Gunner so I can draw five cards and send those cards to the graveyard and for each 'Laval' sent to the grave, this card gains 200 ATK."

The card began to glow as Hikaru drew his five cards and revealed them to his opponent. In order, they were Laval Miller, Searing Fire Wall, Dark Coffin, Laval Lancelord and Laval Forest Sprite.

Now Hikaru could feel the momentum shift towards him, "That's what I'm talking about! With three 'Lavals' I get a pretty good ATK boost."

Even the monster knew what would happen soon as the cannon extensions on its wristbands began to charge as the end of the cannon began to glow with a molten orange hue. Not only that but even Laval Gunner itself powered up which was visually indicated by a similar molten orange aura (Gunner ATK: 1200+200+200+200= 1800 ATK).

"Now I'll activate Laval Lady of the Burning Lake's effect from my graveyard and I have enough different 'Lavals' there as well! Your left face-down is about to be lit up in flames since I can banish the lady as well as Laval Lancelord to destroy a face-down you have!", the boy yelled while pointing to Shiho's left card in her Spell/Trap Zone.

From thin air, flames surrounded the girl's face-down before it spontaneously exploded into flames. Hikaru was about to order an attack when suddenly, two black spheres formed on opposite sides of the battlefield as lines of darkness formed in between before a black line connected the two and expanded out which formed a see-through wall of shadows. Laval Gunner tried to shoot through but this sudden mysterious wall held and nothing went through.

"Even better than I had planned! By destroying my face-down Nemesis Repel, not only did you just waste an effect but you triggered my own card's effect. This is an impenetrable force that can repel any force towards me like it was nothing! I can't take any effect or battle damage and you can't even go into the Battle Phase this turn!", Shiho explained with massive confidence.

Hikaru was somewhat annoyed and it showed in his face for a second but he grabbed a card in his hand and set it down, "One card face-down. That's all I have for now."

"If that's all you have, then I'm even more disappointed in you. A shame you had to be here. Did you really think your sister would approve of her brother just wandering into dangerous territory leaving her in the dark? Her brother being rendered in a comatose-like state once more isn't going to make her happy, you know!"

That comment hit a soft spot for Hikaru, "Natsumi...I won't let her down again! No matter what! Having her be sad like that isn't something that will happen again! You just watch me, Shiho!"

Surprisingly, Shiho was not agitated at all and even chuckled a bit before looking at Hikaru with a changed tone in her voice, "Hah. You sound a lot like myself once. Just believing that words and faith alone could do it. Well, I learned that there's one thing that matters and that's power. With words you can only preach but with power you can change the world! I hate to be the one to do it but...for the sake of avenging my own older sister, I have to do it!"

Now Hikaru was the one in shock, "You...you had a sister...? Where is she?"

"I did. Back when I used to be so naive and stupid. That all changed though when I lost my own sister which caused my world to come crashing down and I had to see reality for what it really was! The survival of the strongest! There I just saved you a lot of time with that!", she screamed out upwards to nobody in particular.

"_Is that why she was so interested in Natsumi?"_, Hikaru thought to himself.

The boy wanted to say anything and for once in a long while, he was speechless as Shiho's hands began to shake and she took a deep breath to herself, "You see..."

* * *

><p>Shiho began to narrate her story as it began in a very small apartment which was actually where a younger Shiho and an older sister with red-black hair was as well. There were not many rooms at all but they had the basic necessities such as a small bedroom, washroom, a tiny kitchen where the table and stove barely fit along with a fridge and microwave.<p>

The younger Shiho opened a cupboard and noticed some instant noodles as she sighed, "This again..."

The older girl remarked, "Sorry about that sis but it's what we got. If mom and dad were still around, we might have something else but well...we have to work with what we got. I've got some help and speaking of which, I have to meet up with them now."

Hours passed as Shiho waited around when the phone suddenly rang. The girl thought it might be her sister as she went over and picked it up, "Hello, who is it?"

It took a moment but then a male voice she had never heard before answered. The visual screen was not on for some reason so the only thing she could hear was a voice, "Your sister, Karina, says that she needs your help now in a duel. She asked me to call as she is currently tied up in something. You're her younger sister Shiho, right?"

"Yep, that's me," she answered.

"Excellent. I'll provide you with an address. It's quite a bit from where you are but take your time. We and your sister shall be waiting," the individual explained before hanging up.

The call came from Karina's D-Pad as Shiho got her deck and Duel Disk and headed out to the address. It took a monorail ride across various stations and some walking but she eventually arrived at a large one-story building. It had a few lights and even a driveway and door for large vehicles as she saw a teenage girl at the first door. The two noticed each other as Shiho walked over.

"You must be Shiho. Come on in," the girl said opening the door with a key and inviting her in.

Shiho walked in as the girl entered with her. Looking around, it was fairly lit and very spacious. There was not a sign of Karina and as a matter of fact, there was not a sign of anyone else. Before anything else could happen though, Shiho felt something strike the back of her head as she was knocked unconscious by the girl who had accompanied her inside.

"Now this game gets more interesting," the teenager muttered to herself outloud.

It took an unknown amount of time but Shiho eventually regained consciousness after hearing a voice. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed a red-black haired older girl trying to wake her up.

"Shiho. Shiho," the voice rang in.

The younger girl smiled, "Karina!"

The two hugged momentarily and Shiho realized that there was some blood on her head from the earlier blow but it was relatively minor. Her excitement was short-lived when she realized the situation that they were in. She and her sister were actually inside a steel cage with their D-Pads and Duel Disks locked in with them. There were some strange metal attachments and wires to the Duel Disks and there were several people outside the cage. Most of these figures were wearing sunglasses and black coats though some others like the girl who knocked out Shiho were in the back. Footsteps were heard as a black suited figure with a black hat took a step forward on the outside of the cage and grinned. It was extremely difficult to identify any of their features.

"Karina over there borrowed some of our money to pay for certain things. In our line of business, money is everything. You need it to control things and gain power. When someone takes our money, we need an investment back and Karina is in a situation where she can't pay us back," the man explained.

Shiho was confused, "So what? If she can't pay, let us go! We have enough problems you know!"

Karina was scared, "I said I'd pay you back eventually!"

The man sighed, "Believe me I would love nothing more than to let you two go and never see you again, little girl. There's a problem though. We have extended your sister's payment and interest several times already and if we do it anymore, well, our 'business' starts to seem soft and people might take advantage of that. I've already made peace with the fact that our money isn't coming back but I have to set an example for any future transactions."

"What's that suppose to mean? I told you that I'd handle this!", Karina shouted.

"You had your chance but now I'm going to handle this my way. Since you can't pay me back in cash, you'll pay me back in reputation. I have no problem with that. All you two need to do is to put on those Duel Disks and duel each other. However, there's a twist. The winner will be free to leave and do whatever and will never hear from us again since your payment will be completed in full. The loser though won't be quite as well off as the loser's Duel Disk will have a special electric surge sent through their body that will fry their brain. I'm not one for a mess but I promise you that this shock will be lethal. In the case of a draw, another duel will take place to determine a winner and if you try and take off the shock attachment in the wrong way, it will trigger anyways making that person the automatic loser. In other words, this will be the last duel for someone regardless of what happens."

The two sisters were silent as the man turned his back, "I am not a man without mercy. I will give you both some time to talk this over."

Shiho and Karina met up as Shiho did not know what to do and Karina wanted to cry but stopped herself before Shiho got anymore scared, "This...this is my fault. So I'll be the one to make the payment."

Hearing this was out of the question for Shiho, "What...what do you mean? No, I can!"

Karina sighed, "No. It's the justice of this world. It's my fault that I have failed you as a sister and someone to look up to. I caused this mess so I'll clean it up. It's only right. You were the best sister that I could possibly hope for. Our parents and I are proud of you but this is the last thing I can do for you. I'm sorry."

The younger sister could not move as she was breaking down crying as Karina slowly went over and grabbed her Duel Disk.

Shiho started to run over, "Karina...! I won't let you!"

Suddenly, Karina twisted her body and hit Shiho in roughly the same spot on the back of her head. Thanks to the last attack, this one was easier to knock Shiho out but she did not cause any bleeding.

"No...sis...you...," Shiho weakly stated before collapsing onto the ground.

"You are still an innocent girl with so much potential. Take this chance and change your life. Just remember that your family loves you and has always wanted what's best for you," Karina quietly said.

That was the last statement Shiho heard before she was rendered unconscious again. Karina tried to force off the shock attachment off her Duel Disk with raw force but already knew the result which triggered the mechanism and released a deadly pulse. When Shiho woke up once more, there was nobody there anymore and she was left alone with her Duel Disk with the attachment off and an open but empty steel cage. The lone girl could not do anything except weep as a deep and cruel hole was engraved into her heart.

* * *

><p>"That feeling of despair...the only way that I could calm it and survive was to be an Underground Duelist. It was a pretty good source of income and I could exact my rage on anyone I wanted. If I lost a dangerous duel, well at that point I really had nothing to lose so I didn't find it much of a negative thing though I was still missing purpose in my life. My dueling talents quickly allowed me to survive on my own. Eventually, Koji and Nightfall found me one day and made use of me. Since that day, I have been an empty vessel but if I can be a vessel of some use, then so be it. This vengeance, this bitterness, no one else needs to feel it but this world is full of despair and so we will change the world and eliminate the despair!", Shiho cried out as she drew a card.<p>

Hikaru was shocked, _"Shiho...are you fighting for your sister and family as well in your own way..."_

"Time to have your nightmare settle this score once and for all! My ace that will bring about a new era! When I have no monsters on the field, I can Special Summon Nemesis Fury and add another one from my deck by paying 1000 Life Points!"

This seemed awfully familiar as a large dark green creature with a twisted face and spiked shoulder guards came out. It smashed its tail on the ground and stood up on its long legs and its body bent forward while roaring viciously (ATK: 1500, Level 5). A green glow surrounded Shiho after she got her card form her deck as she closed one eye in pain and briefly lost her balance.

Hikaru- 3600 LP  
>Shiho- 3000 LP<p>

Now she grabbed a different card, "I have another monster I can Special Summon since I successfully Tributed a monster last turn! Show yourself, Nemesis Half-Blaze!"

A green pillar of fire shot out before quickly dispersing and revealing Shiho's next monster. The red-eyed monster had two literally two different sides to it. On the left side, the monster seemed like a deformed griffon as it had green feathers and white-red claws. In contrast, the right side was mostly shadows of blue-orange flame with an extension of flames that formed into a large javelin (ATK: 1100, Level 5).

"I'll use Half-Blaze's effect! I'll send my other Nemesis Fury from my hand to the graveyard and regain Life Points equal to half its original ATK. Even worse for you, this card gains ATK equal to half the original ATK of the card I sent as well!"

The flames of fury around her monster got more intense as the monster clenched its fists and roared out. A red aura surrounded Shiho as well indicating a change in the area (Half-Blaze ATK: 1100+750= 1850 ATK).

Hikaru- 3600 LP  
>Shiho- 3750 LP<p>

Though she now had the most powerful monster on the field, Hikaru wondered if she could really get her ace onto the field this turn while she reached for another card, "One last monster until I've set you up to lose everything! I summon out Nemesis Thorn!"

After the card appeared onto the field, a black thicket of thorny vines sprung forth forming a square-like shape. Though the monster did not seem alive, something was strange with it as the vines reached to their surroundings with rapid shaking and screeching sounds (ATK: 300, Level 2).

"Since you were stupid enough to challenge me again, I should at least give you an advantage with my Trap Card, Give and Take! Since I'll be taking all your energy and spirit after this duel, I'll make things up to you by giving you one of my monsters in perfect condition. Hope you like my Nemesis Knight because its yours for now."

A purple mist formed around an area on Hikaru's side of the field as the mist began to take shape. The dark knight showed itself and brought its sword a bit lower and tilted it while holding its ground. This would act as a guard which shocked Hikaru as the monster seemed perfectly intact just as promised (DEF: 200, Level 3).

Now Shiho put her arm forward and clenched her fist, "Like everything, there's always a price to pay for generosity. Now a monster on my field gains Levels equal to the Knight's Level. I hope you're keeping up here."

Nemesis Thorn absorbed the purple mist that was leaking out of Nemesis Knight as the plant thrashed around and screeched which made a noise that caused Hikaru to shudder to himself (Thorn Level: 2+3= 5).

"I didn't even need your help! But something tells me that you weren't planning to help me anyways!," the brother yelled.

Nevertheless, Shiho ignored the obvious statement as she called out, "I Overlay Nemesis Fury, Half-Blaze and Plant!"

Nemesis Fury and Half-Blaze transformed into red rays of light that shot into the sky followed by Nemesis Plant which was now a similar dark purple ray of light. A red portal opened up in the sky as the rays of light went inside which triggered a red explosive sphere.

"With my three monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Dragon of darkness who governs the fallen soul! Ruination descends and cries for your salvation! Xyz Summon! Reveal yourself, Nemesis Devastator! "

On her command, the massive red-black dragon descended from the explosion. It had shining scales of red and black with an ominous red glow located deeper into the dragon's body. Though it had been some time since Hikaru last saw this monster, it left an impression from his previous encounter that he had not and likely would not forget in a long while. Now Hikaru gritted his teeth in preparation for the monster's inevitable assault as three dark purple Overlay Units surrounded the creature (ATK: 2000, Rank 5, OU: 3).

Shiho knew she had an overwhelming advantage now, "Let me remind you of Nemesis Devastator's frightening effect! Since I used a 'Nemesis' monster as an Overlay Unit, my monster gains ATK equal to half the current ATK of the monster on your field with the highest Original ATK. Since both your monsters have 1200 Original ATK, I'll choose your Laval Gunner since it has more ATK points right now thanks to its own effect."

A black aura started to surround Laval Gunner as the black dragon began to get stronger (Devastator ATK: 2000+900= 2900 ATK).

"Now for its other effect! By detaching an Overlay Unit, this card gains even more ATK and DEF and the best part is the piercing damage it can now deal out until the end of my turn! I remove Nemesis Fury so this card gains an extra 750 ATK and DEF points."

The inner red glow began to intensify as Nemesis Devastator consumed one of its dark purple Overlay Units (OU: 2) and then a black aura stacked on top. With a viscous gaze and deafening stomp, the monster look down on Hikaru's monsters as everyone knew what would happen next with such a powerful monster (Devastator ATK: 2900+750= 3650 ATK).

"Now with all these ATK points, I'll attack your Nemesis Knight! Total Devastation!"

Shiho's monster opened its mouth as a large black and red meteor formed in front of its mouth and shot out. The air started to turn wavy from the sheer temperature of the blast as the meteor collided with the defending swordsman and easily went straight through the monster towards Hikaru. The boy closed his eyes and put his arms forward and the attack exploded the ground around him sending him flying back along with some rubble from the ground. Not only were Hikaru's arms red but some of the skin even started to peel as he laid on the ground.

Hikaru- 150 LP  
>Shiho- 3750 LP<p>

After a struggle, Hikaru stood up shakily as he had bruises and burns everywhere.

"You...", Hikaru started to say.

"What? You want to give up?" Shiho asked.

It took a moment for Hikaru to answer, "You...you destroyed your own monster!"

"I thought you were going to say something important. My monster was there to do what I wanted and like in a duel, in reality or in our plan, there are things that much be lost so something much more can be gained. I lost a monster but I've almost won the duel in just a single strike," she said explaining her logic.

Hikaru did not agree with her previous statements in the least but her last statement was undeniable. With one attack, he lost a large majority of his Life Points and he was put in a tight spot. He just scowled and held his arm in pain as Shiho grabbed another card.

"I'll set a card and it's your turn if you can still make one," Shiho taunted, "My Devastator does lose some ATK points since it's the end of my turn but I think the damage has been done but you know first-hand."

The two auras around Nemesis Devastator faded as the outer red glow disappeared though it was still present deep within the monster (Devastator ATK: 3650-750= 2900 ATK). The thought of giving up had not crossed the boy's mind at all but he knew that there was no more room for error. His opponent barely lost any Life Points while he had almost lost all his Life Points. Still, he believed that everything he went through recently had made him a more passionate and stronger duelist than ever.

"_Just with any real duelist. I might be almost burnt out but that's no reason to give up. As long as I can still duel, I'll fight for everyone that believes in me with everything I have!"_, Hikaru thought to himself as he was motivated to start his next turn.

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Nemesis Half-Blaze

Level 5

Fire Attribute

Fiend/Effect

ATK: 1100, DEF: 700

If you successfully Tributed a monster last turn, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. Once per turn, you can send 1 Monster Card from your hand to the graveyard to gain Life Points equal to half that monster's Original ATK and this card gains ATK equal to half that monster's Original ATK

Nemesis Repel

Trap Card

If this Set card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you take no battle or effect damage from your opponent until the End Phase and your opponent cannot enter their Battle Phase this turn.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 28 Preview<strong>

Yuushi: This place is really empty. I wonder how long it will be before dad figures out where we are.

Ayumi: That's going to be hard seeing as we don't really know where we are.

Yuushi: I guess we have to keep moving forward then, like Hikaru is right now. Come on!

Hikaru: Chapter 28: Enduring Flame. If there was ever a moment for me to step up for the people who care about me, that time is now!


	29. Chapter 28: Enduring Flame

Inside a space that borders both the Spirit World and the 'normal' world, Hikaru had been split off from his three friends and was dueling Shiho who was nearly responsible for his descent into ruin. Some parts of his body started to ache and swell but he did not really have time to do anything about it. Hikaru was in rough shape but his duel was in just as much trouble as his physical body.

Hikaru- 150 LP  
>Shiho- 3750 LP<p>

Shiho had just ended her turn with one card left in her hand and took a massive lead in both Life Points and field presence. She had Nemesis Devastator currently at 2900 ATK and two Overlay Units remaining along with a face-down behind it. On the other side, Hikaru had Laval Gunner at 1800 ATK along with his own face-down but with three cards in his hand which was about to become four as soon as he started his turn. One of the worst parts of this situation was Devastator's piercing effect which meant that any Overlay Unit-powered attack from Shiho's ace would probably be game-ending at this point.

"So you're still standing after that last attack," Shiho commented.

Hikaru panted and chuckled a bit trying to keep his spirits up, "You got that right. Even with your ace on the field, I won't be beaten that easily. You got a good shot on me and I'll get a shot on you. Just you wait. I'll win for sure."

"Still running your mouth like that? Well, I will say one thing though, last time you couldn't even take one shot from this monster and now you're one of the very few who have. I guess that alone must mean something changed," the red-haired girl said with sarcasm in her voice.

Now Hikaru started his turn, "Draw!"

Another card was added to the boy's hand as he could not contain his excitement as he grinned. Shiho was curious but thought that the result would still be the same regardless of what he drew. Hikaru grabbed a card, "Now it's time to turn things up a bit some cards of my own! I summon Hand of Nephthys!"

A blue light formed on the field before a female appeared in its place. She was wearing gold cloth around her chest, wrists, waist and the bottom of her legs with an orange dress and skirt over top. Her hair and face was mostly covered by large golden and red patterned ceremonial helmet. Her entire attire was similar to that of an Egyptian queen (ATK: 600, Level 2).

"Hand of Nephthys...", whispered Shiho as she knew that she had heard about that monster but did not recall when or where.

Hikaru put his arm forward, "Now the time has come! My two monsters will blaze a path to victory! Her special effect lets me Tribute both herself and my Laval Gunner to Special Summon a very special card from my deck."

Hand of Nephthys began to float up as orange flames surrounded her as she chanted. Laval Gunner disappeared into the flames as well before the lone female joined suit as the orange flames flew up taking the shape of a winged creature. Shiho now realized what was coming though she was still in disbelief.

Hikaru called out to the flames, "Ancient avian of death and rebirth. Shine from the burning ashes once more and flare up your blazing soul! Be reborn! Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!"

The flaming winged creature shrieked as the flames were drawn behind the golden phoenix leaving behind a trail of orange flames. Shiho was starting to sweat, not only from the heat this monster gave off but she could feel something with Hikaru which was different than before. It was a feeling she could not describe but she knew that there was something definitely there (ATK: 2400, Level 8).

Seeing the ATK value though, Shiho yelled, "You think you can get in that good shot with such a weak monster?! With such big talk just a minute ago, don't tell me that's the best you have!"

"Don't worry about that. I still have another card on my field! My trap, Double Tribute!" Hikaru shouted back as the card sprung up and he went into detail about what it would do, "I just summoned a monster so now I can destroy one of your monsters and mine too!"

The Trap Card shot out a red beam of light at Nemesis Devastator howled and roared with pain before exploding as Shiho shielded her face from the blast. Suddenly, the phoenix shrieked out too before a golden column of light from the same card consumed it as it exploded into bits of data.

Hikaru sighed, "Now even if you get your monster back, it can't be at full power unless you Xyz Summon."

Shiho mocked him, "'Can't be at full power'? That's no problem at all. I won't even need need it full power. I activate Puzzle Reborn!"

Her countermeasure revealed itself and began to glow as she explained, "Since Double Tribute just destroyed one of my monsters, I can summon back that monster to the field right now! Show yourself, Nemesis Devastator!"

A purple portal opened underneath as bits of data were collected and once again formed the massive red-black dragon who roared upon its return (ATK: 2000, Rank 5).

Seeing the monster once again, Hikaru was not exactly happy.

"You're a fool! You just won the duel for me by leaving your field wide open thanks to your own terrible play just now! My monster didn't even get destroyed! Great move on your part," she openly ridiculed.

Hikaru paused for a moment in frustration before grabbing a two cards, "I'll place two cards face-down and that's it for now."

"You know this would be a lot easier if you would just give up! You've gotten better but you're far from being any good! Do you think you can be a pro like this?!," she taunted.

"Giving up isn't me, you know. It's your turn, you know!", the boy yelled back.

She paused for a moment and looked into Hikaru's eyes and there was something there that she had not seen for a long time, _"Duelists I've crushed had lost hope and even Hikaru once did before but this time seems different. In their last moments, that look of fear on their face when they know what's going to happen. In the Iron Curtain and in Underground Duels, I guess I just got used to it after seeing it so many times. But even in his condition and with so few Life Points left, Hikaru's not scared at all...that's not normal. Guess he's just too stupid to realize the situation he's really in."_

The Nemesis duelist seemed annoyed, "Fine then! I draw! Now I summon Nemesis Dream Stalker!

A black spectral robed figure suddenly appeared in front of Shiho. Despite the creature being some sort of black vapor-like substance, its red and purple robes covered about everything except the creature's hands, legs and head. On its back was a large spiral of black mist as the monster gazed at Hikaru with its dark eyes (ATK: 900, Level 4).

"I activate Dream Stalker's effect! Since I have a 'Nemesis' Xyz Monster, I can Tribute this card to power that Xyz Monster up. Nemesis Devastator gains this monster as an Overlay Unit but you have much more to fear than that! Devastator gains an extra 900 ATK and cannot be destroyed until the End Phase thanks to the tribute itself!"

Hikaru opened in mouth in shock, "What?!"

Dream Stalker floated upwards as the black mist spiral on its back consumed the monster and transformed it into a dark purple energy that began to circle around Nemesis Devastator. The dragon stomped as the dark purple energy stabilized and was now an Overlay Unit (Devastator ATK: 2000+900= 2900, OU: 1).

"Now you're going to be taken out for good! Nemesis Devastator, attack!"

With Shiho's command, her monster fired off a red and black meteor from its mouth as Hikaru began to stagger back but made a quick motion with his hand as one of his face-downs were revealed, "I'm not out yet! I activate Firewall and by banishing Laval Miller, your direct attacks won't be able to get through that easily!"

After removing Laval Miller from the graveyard slot and sending it off, the Continuous Trap lit up as a wall of flames surrounded and protected Hikaru as the meteor exploded on impact with the wall but the smoke and explosion was successfully defended against. The flaming wall disappeared as Hikaru let out a sigh of relief.

Shiho was still in control of the duel though, "So what was that you said about not having any monsters earlier?! Seems like you're the one with that problem now! Since I'm done for now, which monster will be next to get annihilated!"

"It's my turn now!", Hikaru quickly started his turn, "I can't pay the 500 Life Points it takes for Firewall to stay on the field so I guess it's gone then."

Without much else, the card exploded itself into bits of data but Hikaru chuckled lightly as Shiho was annoyed even with that slight noise, "You think this is funny?!"

The Laval duelist spoke up, "No I don't but I couldn't help it. You see, I actually do still have a monster with me and it's the one that's been a part of my family for a long while."

The ground on Hikaru's side of the battlefield began to glow dark red as a portal surrounded by glyphs started to take shape as the portal was coated in orange flames and began to disappear.

"What's happening?", Shiho said confused.

Hikaru began to clarify, "Last turn if you remember, this card was destroyed by Double Tribute and send to the graveyard. Like the legend states, a phoenix can gain new life by returning from its own ashes. So now! Be reborn! Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!"

A shriek was heard before the winged golden creature of fire flew out from the portal as small waves of fire descended onto the ground from its fiery wings (ATK: 2400, Level 8).

"Now we're talking and I'm about to turn up the heat even more thanks to my monster's other effect! When it comes back from its own effect I just told you about, it automatically destroys every Spell and Trap Card on the field! Scorching Ascension!", the boy shouted out.

The red-haired girl scanned the field, shook her head and clicked her tongue, "You're the only one with a Spell or Trap on the field! It's about to be burnt to a crisp!"

Hikaru pointed at the card, "I might be a bit crazy sometimes but it's all part of the plan! Before it goes up in flames, I activate and equip Blast with Chain onto my phoenix so my monster gains 500 ATK!"

The card was flipped up as a device appeared above the card. It seemed to be a metal chain attached to a spiked anchor wrapped in explosive dynamite. For some reason, the wrappings around the dynamite had some small blue marbles attached as well. The phoenix radiated an orange-red glow as the monster had more offensive power (Phoenix ATK: 2400+500= 2900 ATK).

Despite that explanation, Shiho was sure of her last statement, "Again, what good is that going to do? Our monsters have 2900 ATK each but yours is going to lose the only reason why its that high in the first place!"

As she finished, Hikaru's monster was covered in bright flame and flew upwards spreading its wings. Both the wings and the battlefield lit up and reacted as something was about to occur. A wall of flames flared up and intensified in front of both duelists who were forced to take a step back from the intense heat. The wall of flames had no effect on Shiho's field since she had no cards in the Spell/Trap Zone but Hikaru's Blast with Chain was destroyed as the only thing that could be seen was flames and smoke.

Shiho was not worried despite the display as she lost no cards at all as the smoke began to clear. However, she could see something in the smoke that was not Hikaru which meant that something else was still there. Surprisingly, Blast with Chain was still on the field but its card vanished meaning that it should have been destroyed. Nevertheless, the duel scanners indicated that Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys did lose 500 ATK as the equipment attached onto it was indeed nullified (Phoenix ATK: 2900-500= 2400 ATK).

The girl screamed out, "That's impossible! How did your card remain on the field after that effect?! It should have been wiped out!"

"Well...this card has another effect that only works when it's destroyed by an effect while equipped, he slowly started to reply while panting thanks to the smoke and flames as the fuse on the dynamite was lit up, "Now I can destroy any card I want on the field. Since your monster can be hit by card effects now, your ace is about to get devastated!"

The fuse was completely gone as sparks started to leak out before the dynamite was launched into the air. In an arc-like movement, the device crashed into the dragon's head as a flash of light triggered. Right after, there was a huge explosion that consumed Nemesis Devastator as the monster was blown straight off the field with no trace left behind.

Shiho did not say anything as she scowled and she knew that her field was empty and that there was nothing else she could do to prevent any attacks.

Hikaru stepped forward, "Now Sacred Phoenix, direct attack! Flames of Reckoning!"

In the air, Hikaru's monster shrieked as fire began to consume its body. Since it was a phoenix, the flames caused no damage to the monster and was actually more of a protective coating.

At that moment, Hikaru revealed another card from his hand, "There's one last thing I have to do. I play the Quick-Play Spell, Rush Recklessly! Now my monster's attack gets an 700 ATK boost so that it can deal even more damage!"

Now the monster's incoming dive experienced an accelerated burst of speed (Phoenix ATK: 2400+700= 3100 ATK) as the attack connected and the area around Shiho exploded in a blast of fire. She was sent flying back and slid along the ground as the fire and smoke faded away.

Hikaru- 150 LP  
>Shiho- 650 LP<p>

Shiho struggled to stand up as she held one of her arms in pain before looking back at her opponent. Though she tried not to show it, Hikaru could tell that she was injured and bruised maybe moreso than him. She was not going to back down from this duel as he looked toward the field, _"That wasn't a good use of Rush Recklessly but it does set up this card since she's past this card's safety zone. I don't want to use this but if it really comes down to it, then I guess I have to."_

A card materialized on Hikaru's field, "Just setting this card down and it's your turn then."

As Hikaru's turn finished up, the effects of Rush Recklessly wore out which dropped Hikaru's monster back to its Original ATK (Phoenix ATK: 3100-700-2400 ATK).

Shiho shook her head, "Guess we have about the same amount of Life Points now. If Nightfall is to change the world, then I have to do better than this."

Hikaru spoke up, "Change the world...You think you can change the world that easily! I'm sorry for your loss but my world came crashing down when you defeated me. I couldn't remember anything and I was pretty much useless. But thanks to my family and some friends of this world, I regained my passion and spirit and moved to the future. It took a while but I was able to move on and learn from that experience you gave me."

"Family and friends, you say?", muttered Shiho

"If this world can offer an empty person like that a chance, then I'll fight to keep this world the way it is! You think your sister would want to see you like this? It sounded to me like she wanted you to enjoy yourself and not just sink into a pit of emptiness!", yelled Hikaru.

Now Shiho was really mad, "Shut up! You have no idea what it's like. You still have your family with you to support you! Don't patronize me by pretending that you understand!"

On one hand Hikaru wanted to yell back but after thinking about it for a moment, he calmed down a bit, "You're right. I can't really say I do understand since my family and friends have always been a part of me, even right now in this moment. The only thing I can do is share things that I was luckier than you to have, things like advice. A friend with a pirate deck told me that life won't always work the way you want but you have to do what you can to move forward and learn from that experience. If you're in a pit of emptiness, then you have to get out and do something to move on! It might be hard but...you don't just sit there and take it! Karina probably wouldn't..."

It took some time for Shiho to think but she ultimately blew that notion off, "You want me to do something! What do you think I'm doing?! If you think you're so right about all this, then let's see who's right!"

She drew her card and Hikaru could feel something change as she grabbed the last two cards in her hand, "I'm setting both these cards face-down and that'll be it! Only one of us will survive the next turn!"

The blue-black haired boy figured that it was a fast turn as he started his turn, "I draw!"

Now Shiho was about to make her move as she revealed one of her face-downs which was a Trap Card. The card had the image of bunch of angry students about to fight each other with various auras around them as she started to call out, "Let's see if you can back up that big talk! Battle Mania can only be activated during your Standby Phase and it forces then locks all monsters you control in ATK mode and then your monsters must attack this turn."

Hikaru scoffed for a moment, "I was planning to attack this turn anyways...unless your other card..."

The girl nodded, "Now the end is here! I activate Rage Return! Since I have four 'Nemesis' monsters in my graveyard, I can channel their fury and summon back my Nemesis Devastator from my graveyard! Return to me, dragon of darkness!"

After hearing the screams of several monsters that momentarily caused Hikaru to jump up, a dark purple haze quickly formed in front of Shiho before becoming the red-black dragon once more (ATK: 2000, Rank 5, OU: 0). However, the dark purple aura still persisted from the monster as it leaked out of the Trap Card.

Still though, the Laval duelist was not too worried, "My Sacred Phoenix still has more ATK, so..."

Shiho cut her opponent off, "That doesn't matter at all. My Rage Return equips onto my monster and when this monster takes battle damage and is sent to the graveyard, you take the same amount of damage I do from that battle. And now for the finishing strike!"

Thanks to Battle Mania, both monsters started to power up and emit their own magical auras as the two ace monsters were drawn into battle. Hikaru's Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys consumed its body in flames in the air while Shiho's Nemesis Devastator opened its mouth as a large meteor started to form.

"_If we both take 400 points of damage, I'll lose for sure...Now or never!"_, Hikaru thought before making his last move.

Suddenly, a small golden orb attached itself to Hikaru's monster as the orb turned into a black and gold ring with a small golden bomb crafted into the ring. The female duelist took a quick glance trying to figure out what it was when the ring began to glow as the golden bomb detonated. For such a small bomb, the explosion produced was massive as the resulting blast shattered the screens of the nearby computers in the room and caused a minor quake. Both duelists tried to endure the blast but in the end, both were blown back as they slid across the floor on their backs as the dust settled.

Hikaru- 0 LP- DRAW  
>Shiho- 0 LP- DRAW<p>

After a few moments, both duelists opened their eyes as Shiho slightly made it to her feet before Hikaru who soon followed. Both were panting and injured with wounds and bruises all over. There was one thing that surprised both duelists as the other one was still conscious.

However, Shiho was the most surprised, "Just how? You should have no Life Points left and I should still have 250."

Her opponent opened his eyes slowly and panted trying to remember what exactly just happened, "That's...that's...Destruction Ring. We both take 1000 points of damage after I destroy one of my monsters on the field. I didn't want to do it but there really wasn't anything else I could have done." Hikaru tried to get up but he was too exhausted as one of his legs were still numb as he dropped back down on one knee, "Wait for me, everyone...!"

As the duel ended as a draw with no winner or loser, nobody lost any spirit or energy but that did not necessarily mean that either duelist would stand down.

Shiho scoffed, "Wait for you, you say?"

She got up and Hikaru soon followed. The boy was worried though that since the duel had no clear outcome thus he was not exactly sure what would happen next as he shouted, "So you want another duel or something? Well, duels are great and all but...I'm not good with words but what you're doing just isn't right! If you want though, I will duel and you won't get through me."

"'Isn't right?' Aren't you acting all high and mighty! If you're think I'm that weak that I can't protect what I want then spit it out!," she yelled back furiously.

"I'm not saying that at all and you're actually one of the best duelists I've ever seen. I'm just saying that maybe you need to clear your head a bit. After being in the Underground for so long, maybe you need to see what's changed and what's really out there in the world. I'm still learning from the world every day, not just me but everyone. Do you really think Karina let herself go like that just so you could live like this?," Hikaru questioned while chuckling once out loud, "Me, giving advice? That's weird."

Shiho didn't answer which was good in one sense yet bad in another.

"So are you going to stop me?," Hikaru slowly mentioned as he wearily prepared for another duel.

She looked to no one in particular and started to walk off, "You've already been stalled long enough. Even if you or I head to the main room right now, we wouldn't make it in time to have any impact on Nightfall's ultimate plan. Let me tell you that it will change the world one way or another. If I were you, I'd start making my way out."

Hikaru was shocked, "What...what do you mean? Then what are you going to do?"

"When this plan is over, this building will truly become a ruin and be destroyed as a result. But...I might have to discover for myself what is really best and from there, I'll see," she plainly said back.

Hikaru was even more confused, "What? Why will it be destroyed?!"

The girl was almost out the door but stopped for a moment with her back facing Hikaru though she ignored his last statement and continued, "If you want to leave, go to the end of the long northern hallway and take a right and go to the room straight at the end of the corridor. Say hello to Natsumi for me and let her know that her brother is a good but idiotic person."

With that she quickly took off leaving Hikaru alone. He was not sure if that last part was a compliment but he assumed that it was though he had other problems to worry about. Now he had some clue where the exit was but there was also a plan that needed to be stopped or else at the very least it would "change the world" in Shiho's own words. That last part really bothered him as he knew what he would do. He shook his head and hoped that his words somewhat got through to Shiho as he focused on another task.

The first thing he did was contact Ryoko on his D-Pad as her image popped up and Hikaru began to talk, "Ryoko, I think I know where the exit is. I'm a floor below you in some large room with shattered computers in it. It's one of the bigger rooms."

Ryoko was running, "I'm almost down a floor. I'll just find of the bigger rooms on the map and go there...", the brown-hair girl paused after noticing the condition her friend was in, "...What happened?!"

Hikaru chuckled lightly and slightly smiled, "I'll explain everything and we'll think of something when we meet up. Let's just say a duel here isn't exactly a normal duel back at home."

"You should probably call Yuushi or Ayumi while I make my way over and tell them that you might know where an exit is," she answered a bit concerned.

"Yeah, I will. See you soon."

The call ended as Hikaru sat down to rest, _"Then it's up to Yuushi and Ayumi now. Those two better be alright."_

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Nemesis Dream Stalker

Level 4

Dark Attribute

Spellcaster/Effect

ATK: 900, DEF: 1000

When you control a "Nemesis" Xyz Monster, this card can be Tributed to attach itself to a "Nemesis" Xyz Monster as an Overlay Unit. When this card is attached as an Overlay Unit using this effect, the Xyz Monster gains the following effects

it gains 900 ATK

it cannot be destroyed by cards effects until the End Phase

Rage Return

Trap Card

This card can only be activated when you have 4 or more "Nemesis" monsters with difference names in your graveyard. Target 1 "Nemesis" monster in your graveyard and Special Summon that target in face-up Attack Position and equip it with this card. When the targeted monster takes battle damage and is sent to the graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the amount of battle damage you took. When this card is removed from the field, destroy that monster. When that monster is removed from the field, destroy this card.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 29 Preview<strong>

Ayumi: There, we're at the bottom floor at last.

Yuushi: Yeah but these readings are stronger than ever. There's something nearby for sure.

Ayumi: We're close but now...I guess it's my turn. Arcanite Magician can lead you better than any map I have.

Yuushi: You'll probably fare better than I did but especially you Ayumi...You have to be alright afterwards. Please.

Ayumi: Chapter 29: Machine Princess Descends. If I don't take this seriously, we might all pay for it.


	30. Chapter 29: Machine Princess Descends

Now the last two of the original four were about to make it to the bottom floor. Yuushi and Ayumi heard some explosions above ground earlier which they assumed had something to do with Hikaru but they did not have time to check as a large automatic door opened and they went through. Both of them were staring at a projected screen from Ayumi's D-Pad which showed the bottom floor in some detail. With their footsteps echoing, they continued to make their way to the source of the large energy in the ruined building.

"We're at the bottom floor then I think?", Yuushi asked to confirm things.

Ayumi nodded, "And the energy is through the roof. At this point, let's just say that amount of energy is something that is definite proof that Nightfall does have an ultimate plan like Shiho told us."

Suddenly, Yuushi's D-Pad started to beep as he picked up and saw Hikaru on a virtual screen as the Laval duelist spoke up, "How's everything down there? Are you guys alright?"

However, Yuushi and Ayumi were concerned after seeing all his bruises, scrapes and wounds as Yuushi nodded, "I'm more worried about you! What happened up there? We heard some explosions and stuff!"

"You see...Shiho and I had a duel and it was a draw. During the duel through, the damage you take is real like in the Iron Curtain so if you're going to duel, you both better be careful. We're in some weird place in-between the normal and Spirit Worlds or that's what Shiho said. I'm not sure why or how though," warned Hikaru.

Ayumi sighed with relief seeing her friend alright still, "What...we'll worry about that later I guess. We probably got transported here from the clearing we were investigating. So if it was a draw, then what happened after that?"

Hikaru was running and looking around, "Since it was a draw, neither of us ended up unconscious and we just had some injuries and a few cuts and stuff. Shiho and I ended up having a talk and she said that this building will be destroyed soon as part of their plan!"

The duo on the bottom floor both exclaimed, "What! What's their plan anyways?"

"I didn't get that out of her. She just took off for the exit that I'm heading to now. Actually, Shiho was the one who told me where it was but she's a fast runner so she's probably gone by now. I'm actually going to meet Ryoko at the door leading out and we'll see what to do next. I'll send you guys the instructions too," Hikaru answered back while shaking his head looking around.

"How do you know that Shiho gave you the right directions?", the girl said with some skepticism.

Hikaru thought about his answer, "I'm not but I talked to her after and at that time, she didn't seem like an enemy. I don't know how to tell you but I'm sure it's the right way. That's what I'm feeling right now!"

Yuushi took a deep breath and answered after trying to analyze the best course of action, "Then we'll trust you and by extension, Shiho. If it's what your instinct tells you then we'll go with it. Right now though, our priority is shutting down that energy source and we'll worry about the exit when the time comes."

"Are you guys coming back now?", Hikaru said with anxiety.

Ayumi took a moment as well and thought about it, "If we leave now, who knows what'll happen. If Nightfall was using this power for something benevolent, I doubt they would take the time to hide out in...wherever we are."

Yuushi agreed, "We're probably going to at least try to stop this. Depending on what happens though, our circumstances might change. I'll try to contact dad but I don't think it'll work. You should just meet up with Ryoko first and then figure out what to do. You don't look like you're in any condition to duel or do anything too crazy."

"I'll be fine. You guys are heading to that energy source and I bet it won't just be a free pass in," Hikaru replied.

Yuushi and Ayumi then saw a large door up ahead and changed focus. Suddenly, Yuushi's Arcanite Magician card began to glow as even Hikaru noticed the light.

"There's something ahead. We're going to investigate. See you after this," Yuushi said.

Hikaru spoke, "But...!"

"Stay safe up there," Ayumi nodded on before the communication was cut.

They entered a large room on the bottom floor and looked around. There was a minimal amount of light but nothing that allowed either person to make out anything too specific. The glowing Arcanite Magician was one of their better light sources in the room. Inside, there were shattered computers and lights but this room had a large central chamber of some sort that looked like it could hold a large vat. However, there was nothing connected to the chamber which was empty so it had no purpose at this time. Near the chamber on the ground, there were a few disconnected wires and other smaller devices.

"_Arcanite Magician...it's trying to lead me to another room..."_, Yuushi thought to himself feeling some sort of strange pull towards the other end of the room.

As he looked over to the direction he was being pulled toward, both of them heard the sound of an automatic door open and knew that someone else was coming in. From that distance, they could tell that it was a male figure as Yuushi glared at the arrival of the individual who had a smile on his face.

"Jun!", Yuushi shouted out.

The other male walked forward, "Guess you are at least are smart enough to recognize me even without the cloak on."

Yuushi clenched his fist, "So are you trying to stop us now?!"

Jun extended out his Duel Disk, "That's right. Hope you're ready!"

"We can't both stay here. If people are starting to make their way out, we have to hurry!," Ayumi warned.

Yuushi looked over to Ayumi, "I know but...we have to take care of this somehow!"

Without much thought the dark brown haired girl stepped forward, "I'll handle this. If your card is glowing, it's probably reacting to something right?"

Yuushi muttered, "Koji, I bet...Arcanite Magician might be trying to lead me to him so we can have that trial that the dragon warrior told me about. I don't think Koji is around here but further ahead past that door"

"Probably. I don't know but we don't have time," Ayumi said with urgency in her voice.

Jun interrupted, "I don't really care if one person faces me or you both do to be honest. If you both face me, our plan will succeed for sure and if only one does then I won't lose."

Yuushi got his D-Pad ready too, "I'm not going to let you duel this guy alone."

Ayumi yelled back, "I'll be fine! You heard him right?! If we both stay, this guy will draw out the match long enough for their plan to succeed!"

Though it was true, Yuushi was not planning on abandoning his best friend like that, "I know how good this guy is! I'm staying too!"

Jun chuckled, "Lover's quarrel or something? Come on, I'm getting bored over here. Do you guys even have any idea what you're doing?"

Now Ayumi shouted and ignored Jun, "Yuushi, just trust me! I'll be fine! I'll win for sure! You have to go and stop this plan! Right now! There's no time! Don't just stand there!"

Yuushi had not heard Ayumi shout like that in a long while. He did know that Ayumi was a great duelist for sure but he did not know what sort of deck she had on her at the time. It could have been anything which was really disconcerting. Looking into her eyes, Yuushi knew that she was ready to duel and had no intention of backing down. However, there was something else that slightly worried him that he could feel from her which had nothing to do with dueling. He did not have any solid proof to confirm his feeling but Yuushi thought it was just his instinct after knowing her so well and for so long.

"Alright...just please win. I don't know how I'd feel knowing that you lost and that I could have done something about it...especially you," Yuushi said forcing the words out of his mouth.

She looked back a bit embarrassed, "...It's a promise. I'm not about to let you down either."

Jun looked at the pair as Yuushi was still shaking his head and regaining his composure. His Arcanite Magician card began to glow even stronger as if signalling him to move on. A moment passed but Yuushi eventually left the room through the door that Jun originally entered from leaving Ayumi and Jun in the room.

Ayumi looked over, "Is there any way I can convince you to not duel and just let me pass?"

Jun answered back, "You made a fatal mistake staying behind. The only chance you two had was to have both of you duel me at once. But now you threw that chance away and it was all because of your bad judgment," Jun explained.

At this point, Ayumi did not say anything but knew that Jun would not back off and that a duel would likely be inevitable.

Seeing Ayumi's silence, Jun grinned, "You're Yuushi's friend right? He seemed pretty worried over you. Well, he was right! I do feel a bit bad for you though."

"What's that suppose to mean?", Ayumi quickly fired back.

"This is exactly what I told Yuushi the last time we met and I knocked him out with the Iron Curtain. I admit though I am taken aback a bit by how Yuushi is still up and running and even coming back. Does he really think it'll be any different now? Perhaps it's like the lamb to the slaughter," contemplated Jun out loud.

"If that's true then...you were the one who caused Yuushi to end up in that comatose state!," the girl yelled furiously back after hearing those words.

"Don't blame me for his losses. I warned him during the duel that he wasn't strong enough or smart enough to take on a great duelist like myself. You know what he did though? Instead of surrendering, he kept on going and was blinded by his illusionary superiority but in reality, that was just fear."

Hearing these insults, Ayumi started to suppress a lot of rage, "Yuushi's not like that!"

Jun continued, "All I see is a coward who left his friend behind to face me because he doesn't want to face me himself. I put him in the hospital and gave him the worst defeat he ever had. After I crush you too, I'm going to get him in a rematch and do the exact same thing."

Every word that Ayumi heard was getting her more angry but she calmed herself and didn't show it, "If you think you're getting past me, then just try it."

"Get ready then because if you think I'm afraid of rendering you comatose, I'll end your dueling days right now. I'll warn you to surrender so that it can be over quickly. Afterwards, you can blame your own bad judgment on facing me alone. You tried to be brave but all you did was seal your fate. Don't worry though, when Nightfall's plan is finished, there won't be anymore bad judgments like that ever since the strong and able will rise and the weak will be left in the ashes of the old age," the Nightfall duelist ominously warned.

Jun seemed to be finished but all Ayumi could think about was what happened to Yuushi in the Iron Curtain. Though Yuushi did not bring it up, if damage was real and he was alone in the Iron Curtain, she could only imagine what it was like. The physical and mental aspects were probably brutal but she reached for her silver custom D-Pad and opened a secret compartment. Jun noticed the deck inside but did not really pay much attention. Ayumi felt that nobody should ever be in a situation like the Iron Curtain as she slotted the hidden deck inside her Duel Disk.

"_I guess if nobody else sees this, then it should be fine. In a situation like this, I can't afford to lose. If he beat Yuushi, then I guess now's the time to use this deck,"_ she thought to herself.

Both duelists had their Duel Disks and decks ready as the start of the duel was about to happen.

"You're a quiet one I guess. At least you won't be saying idiotic remarks," Jun muttered to himself.

"Duel!"

Ayumi- 4000 LP  
>Jun- 4000 LP<p>

"Draw!"

Ayumi drew her initial five cards but since she had the first turn, she added another one to her hand.

"I'll place one monster facedown and end my turn!"

The lone card materialized onto Ayumi's field but Jun just grinned.

"You call that a defense? It's my turn!"

The male drew a card and like Ayumi did last turn, he grabbed a monster card from his hand.

"I summon Amores of Prophecy!"

Mysterious red runes appeared momentarily before a green-haired blindfolded human-like female leaped out from the card it was summoned from. After doing a quick backflip in the air and landing, the Prophecy monster drew out its bow as looked forward (ATK: 600, Level 3).

Jun revealed a Spellbook Organization card from his hand, "Next I use Amores's effect. By revealing a "Spellbook" Spell Card, I can Special Summon Charioteer of Prophecy from my hand!"

As Jun's second monster was called out through a portal behind him, there was galloping which soon was followed up with a human horse rider charging through the portal. The white stallion was mounted on by a blue caped and green armored individual who had an exotic looking sword (ATK: 1800, Level 4).

"Now, Charioteer of Prophecy! Attack!"

A green-white wind spiralled around the rider's sword as he charged forward with his horse. Ayumi's monster was revealed as a floating blue round and flat sphere resembling a shield. At the center was a darker black region with a gold jewel at the center (DEF: 0, Level 2 Tuner). The horseman reached the sphere monster and swung down but a strange force collided with the attack as a ripple effect could be seen in front of the sphere.

"ARM Defender does not receive battle damage and cannot be destroyed in battle. These effects can only happen once per turn though," Ayumi explained.

Jun was puzzled for a moment but then went on, "So a second attack is just like any other attack then! Amores of Prophecy, destroy that monster!"

The female monster pulled back the string of its bow as red runes appeared and suddenly a magical turquoise arrow formed from out of nowhere and was shot out. The arrow punctured straight through Ayumi's defense as the shield-like monster exploded. The sudden blast and gust from the explosion caught Ayumi off guard as she shielded her face.

"I activate Spellbook Organization. I look at the top three cards of my deck and return them in any order I choose!"

Seeing her opponent's cards played so far, she noted the same thing that Yuushi did against Jun as well. Her opponent was likely using a Spellbook deck.

Three images of cards with their backs toward Ayumi emerged in front of Jun. He thought about the placement of his cards as well as his opponent for a moment.

"_ARM? I think I know something about it but I can't exactly recall right now...There was that one duelist a few years ago. I'll need to observe a bit longer and then I'll end this waste of a duel,"_ Jun strategized as he put the second card on top, the first card in the middle and left the bottom card in its original position before declaring, "Excellent! You're already on the path to defeat! This will do very nicely! I end my turn!"

Ayumi ignored his boasting, "It's my turn!".

With her declaration, she drew a card, "Since only you have monsters on your field, I Special Summon ARM Binder!"

A brown-orange haired female wearing a magneta and orange robe was called forth. Though the robe appeared to be cloth, it was actually magically enhanced and much more durable upon closer inspection. She wielded two chains in a very elegant manner like an extension of her arms (ATK: 900, Level 2 Tuner).

"_I won't use Binder's position change effect but I can still destroy both his monsters,"_ Ayumi analyzed before getting a second monster, "I also summon ARM Shiner to the field!"

This time a much more armored female descended down from the sky in a silver suit of armor which covered almost everything but her eyes. The most notable parts about this suit were the golden spheres on the gauntlets of the suit as well as the large golden sphere on its chest (ATK: 1600, Level 4).

Ayumi looked over to Charioteer of Prophecy, "I'll activate ARM Shiner's effect which lets me reduce one of your monster's ATK and DEF by 400 until the End Phase!"

The female monster raised up her hands as the spheres on her gauntlets flashed several times in succession. With each flash, a burst of light struck Charioteer of Prophecy as the rider staggered and the horse whinnied with panic but they managed to regain their composure (Charioteer ATK: 1800-400= 1400 ATK)

"I attack Charioteer of Prophecy with ARM Shiner!"

This time, ARM Shiner put out both of her hands as the spheres quickly charged up and fired off two beams of light as the beams collided with the horse rider causing an explosion that destroyed the monster. Jun stood his ground and managed to stay standing.

Ayumi- 4000 LP  
>Jun- 3800 LP<p>

"Now! ARM Binder, attack Amores of Prophecy as well!"

Hearing her command, the female wielding chains winded up by pulling her arm back as the chain followed. With great fluidity and control, she swung down as the large chain smashed into Amores of Prophecy who was blasted back and disappeared into light. A shockwave was sent towards Jun who held his ground once more but this time, he slid back slightly and had to close one eye.

Ayumi- 4000 LP  
>Jun- 3500 LP<p>

Now Ayumi raised up her hand, "During my second Main Phase, I'll tune my ARM Binder with my ARM Shiner!"

ARM Binder rested herself as she closed her eyes and began to glow. She transformed into two green rings that aligned themselves in a parallel manner and surrounded ARM Shiner who by now was an orange wireframe of itself. A massive green pillar of light engulfed the monster as a bright light appeared.

"Synchro Summon! Show yourself, ARM Divider!"

"_More ARM cards...this duel should prove a bit more interesting,"_ Jun realized as he was trying to recall some information regarding them but to no avail so far.

The pillar of light vanished and left behind an orange short-haired brown armored female with dark brown stripes crossing her shoulderplates toward the top of her legs and circling to the back. Despite her size, she wielded an axe about her height that had spikes on the tip as a ring of magic surrounding the edge of the weapon (ATK: 2100, Level 6).

Furthermore, she played a Spell Card, "Also I activate the Spell Card, ARM Radiance!"

As the card was played, the axe from ARM Divider was raised up as the weapon itself began to glow in a golden light with Ayumi's deck following up in a similar manner.

"This card can only be played if I control a Level 5 or higher 'ARM' monster. From my deck, I can add a Level 4 or lower 'ARM' monster straight to my hand and then a Level 5 or higher 'ARM' monster gains ATK equal to the added monster's Level times 100."

She quickly found the card she was looking for and showed it to Jun, "I'll add the Tuner monster, ARM Booster!"

The light from both the weapon and the deck faded away but not before Ayumi's monster received a boost of power (Divider ATK: 2100+200= 2300 ATK).

"There. I end my turn!"

Jun quickly drew a card and knew exactly what it was thanks to Spellbook Organization as he did not even look at the card but just played it directly, "This is the card I drew! The Field Spell, The Grand Spellbook Tower!"

With a bright flash of blinding light, Ayumi closed her eyes and as she opened them afterwards she noticed that they were in a completely different area. The sky was clear as they were in a part of a city of some sort. She could see buildings all around both duelists while they were standing in front of a massive light blue tower. The tower itself definitely had magical properties as circles of blue light and runes of various sizes and shapes surrounded the tower and moved all the way up to its peak.

"For my next play, I summon Justice of Prophecy!", he declared as he placed another card on his Duel Disk.

A blonde female human magician wearing green robes with white and black pattering appeared from a flash of light. She had a large hat along with sashes and wielded two different weapons. The one in her right hand was a purple and silver unusually wide dagger and the one in her left hand was a golden mace with scales and an encrusted silver jewel just below the blunt end along the handle (ATK: 1600, Level 3).

"I activate Monster Reborn to revive the highest ATK monster in either graveyard, Charioteer of Prophecy!"

The Spell Card glowed and a portal opened up on Jun's side of the field. Coming out of the portal was the human horse rider who swung its sword downward ready for battle once more (ATK: 1800, Level 4).

Ayumi considered the unusual usage of that Spell Card, _"Monster Reborn is usually used to revive a really powerful monster. Though Charioteer does have the most ATK, most duelists would save it for something a bit stronger. Maybe with Spellbook Organization, he figured out a plan of some sort."_

"Then the next Spell Card, Spellbook of Power and I'll give all its effects to Justice of Prophecy!", Jun shouted as the card was played.

A fiery orange-red book replaced the two weapons of Justice of Prophecy as a new surge of power flowed through the female Spellcaster-Type monster. The jewel on the cover of the book emitted a bright and warm aura (Justice ATK: 1600+1000= 2600 ATK).

He pointed to the ARM monster, "Go! Justice of Prophecy! Attack ARM Divider!"

Ayumi was a bit worried but knew what would happen to her monster, _"In this situation, Divider's protection effect won't help at all..."_

The binds on the Spellbook broke off releasing a wave of energy that caused an orange-red portal to open above Jun's side of the field. A beam of light was fired through the portal at Ayumi's monster who tried to defend herself but the beam incinerated the monster as Ayumi felt a blast that knocked her back on her knees.

Ayumi- 3700 LP  
>Jun- 3500 LP<p>

"Now for Spellbook of Power's second effect! When the monster imbued with its power destroys one of your monsters in battle, I can add a 'Spellbook' Spell from my deck to my hand! Thus, I add Spellbook of Life to my hand!

Like Jun said, he revealed his chosen Spellbook to Ayumi and added the card to his hand before continuing his Battle Phase.

"Charioteer of Prophecy! Direct Attack!"

The white horse charged forward as the horse rider raised up his sword which was encircled by a sharp white-green wind. As he reached Ayumi, he thrust the weapon forward hitting her in the chest as she felt a powerful blast sending the girl flying back onto her side. It took a moment for her to recover but she eventually got up though she could feel bruises and a shock of pain through her body

Ayumi- 1900 LP  
>Jun- 3500 LP<p>

"_So this is what Hikaru was talking about when he meant real damage..."_, the dark brown haired girl stated to herself.

Jun looked over, "If you travelled down this far, surely you must have known the consequences. Don't tell me you're shaken by that measly attack."

"I'm fine," Ayumi muttered to her opponent.

"Then you'll be pleased to know that the fighting for this turn is over. During my End Phase, Justice of Prophecy even loses the power of her Spellbook of Power but it won't matter anyways as I activate Justice of Prophecy's effect!"

Black runes and markings circled Justice of Prophecy at an increasingly accelerated rate until she disappeared in a white light leaving behind her two original weapons as they landed on the ground. However, both the jewels in the dagger and the mace began to glow as they vanished but Jun's deck was empowered with a strange force.

Jun went into detail, "Since I activated a 'Spellbook' Spell this turn, I can add a Level 5 or higher Light or Dark Spellcaster-Type Monster and another 'Spellbook' Spell card from my deck to my hand by banishing this monster off the field. I'll add High Priestess of Prophecy and a second Spellbook of Power!"

While Ayumi was still panting and recovering from the previous attack, Jun's deck shuffled itself as he was holding in a smug yet menacing grin to himself and contemplating his choices, _"Next turn, I'll have everything to deal with any scenario. Every sort of removal and brute power that can rival nearly any creature in Duel Monsters. Just another turn until my complete victory. The pathetic little game has already ended."_

As Jun was thinking, Ayumi started her turn, "I draw!"

She looked at the one Trap Card in particular, _"I know all three of the cards in his hand so this probably isn't a good time to use it. Spellbooks are quite impressive with their power and speed. Even though a single copy of most 'Spellbook' Spell Cards can only be activated once per turn, their variety makes them versatile. But still...!"_

The dark brown haired girl shifted her focus away from the Trap Card and prepared to Normal Summon a card, "I summon ARM Fan in ATK mode!"

A female wearing a white veil over her face and a long purple battle dress appeared in front of Ayumi and pulled out a light blue fan in each hand as she quickly opened the fans for a glimmering effect (ATK: 1300, Level 4).

"I can activate her effect when she's Normal Summoned which lets me Special Summon my ARM Booster!"

Another monster followed up and the most notable thing about her was that she looked like a pilot of some sort. The blonde haired ARM monster had mechanical goggles on her eyes and a light blue suit with a large black jetpack attached to the back of the suit (ATK: 500, Level 2 Tuner).

Ayumi went on, "My Tuner monster can use her effect too! She gains 2 Levels because that is the same number of face-up Machine-Type monsters I control!"

Her information was updated as two Level Stars appeared in front of ARM Booster before doubling to four stars (Booster Level: 2+2= 4).

The female duelist raised up her arm, "Now I'm tuning my Level 4 ARM Booster with my Level 4 ARM Fan!"

ARM Booster's jetpack activated as she flew up into the sky and disappeared into four green rings as ARM Fan leaped into the air as the four rings surrounded her in mid-air. A pillar of light enveloped the two monsters.

"Guardian who inspires and soars to the future! Preserve the present through the path of truth! Synchro Summon! ARM Staff!"

Hearing her voice, an explosion of white-green light triggered as a figure could be seen inside holding a weapon. The light faded and revealed a long-haired fuchsia haired female wearing golden-blue lustrous plate armor. Her arms and legs were covered in dark blue cloth with white gauntlets and boots. In her hands was a custom silver and bronze staff with a golden gem encrusted on its surprisingly pointed edge resembling a large spike at the tip (ATK: 2800, Level 8).

Seeing that monster and hearing ARM Staff made Jun realize who he was facing, "Astro Relic Maiden (ARM) Staff. The ace monster of a once famous young pro duelist overseas several years ago if i recall correctly. Ayumi Miyara, the Machine Princess!"

Ayumi was shocked for a moment that anyone would know about that but she kept quiet about it and did not say anything back.

Jun pointed at his opponent, "Your silence makes my deduction all but undeniable. I heard about your prowess yet nobody ever heard the reason why you left or where you went and the pro world hasn't heard from you since!"

"Maybe I am that person but that doesn't matter right now," the girl replied back.

"Hahaha! For me to face such an opponent. Now it'll be worth it when I crush you and show you that your once mighty reign will crumble beneath my feet! Your duel energy would have been nice but that role has already passed so you will fall in defeat right here! This will be the greatest proof of my superiority yet!," Jun shouted out triumphantly to nobody in particular as his laughter increased in volume and echoed throughout the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

ARM Shiner

Level 4

Light Attribute

Machine/Effect

ATK: 1600, DEF: 1400

Once per turn, target 1 face-up monster on the opponent's field. That monster loses 400 ATK and DEF until the end of your turn.

ARM Booster

Level 2

Earth Attribute

Machine/Tuner

ATK: 500, DEF: 900

Once per turn, during either player's turn, you can increase this card's Level by up to the number of Machine-Type monsters you control.

ARM Defender

Level 2

Light Attribute

Machine/Tuner

ATK: 400, DEF: 300

Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed by battle and takes no Battle Damage.

ARM Binder

Level 2

Earth Attribute

Machine/Tuner

ATK: 900, DEF: 0

If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. Once per turn, you can change 1 Attack Position monster your opponent controls to Defense Position

ARM Fan

Level 4

Water Attribute

Machine/Effect

ATK: 1300, DEF: 300

When this card is Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "ARM" monster from your hand except "ARM Fan".

ARM Radiance

Spell Card

Activate only if you control a face-up Level 5 or higher "ARM" monster. Add 1 Level 4 or lower "ARM"monster from your deck to your hand. Target Level 5 or higher "ARM" monster you control gains ATK equal to the added monster's Level x100.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 30 Preview<strong>

Ayumi: So this is the duelist who defeated Yuushi in the Iron Curtain. Jun's deck is definitely powerful but for my friends' sakes, I'm going to hold out no matter what.

Ayumi: The only thing is...this duel is bringing back some memories I'd rather forget.

Ayumi: Now I recall once again, the reason that I never use this deck. Chapter 30: Price of Victory.


	31. Chapter 30: Price of Victory

Though Yuushi kept moving towards where his glowing Arcanite Magician card was pulling him and he was worried about Koji and Nightfall's plan, he was primarily concerned with Ayumi and her duel. He knew from previous experience that Jun was at around his equal if not a more experienced Spellcaster duelist than himself. In the back of his mind though, he truly hope that Ayumi knew what she was doing and that he could focus on what was ahead as he kept running forward.

"_No time for heading back. Koji, you're going to get a visitor and hopefully I can see the whole picture about Nightfall and Arcanite Magician and that dragon warrior or this 'master' person,"_ Yuushi thought to himself.

* * *

><p>There was at least another duo on the same bottom floor in the middle of a duel. Thanks to Jun's Field Spell, The Grand Spellbook Tower, the background was not the typical ruined building and run-down room but rather a large blue tower which constantly emitted magical energy. There were two monsters staring each other down. One was ARM Staff, a golden-blue armored female with a large spiked staff (ATK: 2800) which was Ayumi's monster and the other was Jun's Charioteer of Prophecy (ATK: 1800) which was a male with green, blue and gold armor riding a white stallion.<p>

Ayumi- 1900 LP  
>Jun- 3500 LP<p>

It was Ayumi's turn and she quickly went over what she knew about Jun's hand, _"There are no Spell or Trap Cards on the field except for his Field Spell. I know the three cards in his hand thanks to them being added through different effects of his cards. Jun has Spellbook of Life, Spellbook of Power and High Priestess of Prophecy in his hand."_

The ARM duelist played a card from her hand, "I activate the Equip Spell Card, Gravity Blaster onto ARM Staff! This card permanently increases the equipped monster's ATK by 400 once per turn"

The Spell Card materialized onto the field and a small silver mechanical device acting as a bit hovered around ARM Staff's shoulder providing the monster with orange light which acted as a power booster (Staff ATK: 2800+400= 3200 ATK).

"Next I'll equip my Machine-Type monster with another Equip Spell, Break! Draw!"

Particles of gold and blue light came into existence around ARM Staff who absorbed the light as she now had a powerful white aura around her. Though ARM Staff did not get another power boost, there was another effect which was bestowed upon the monster.

Ayumi was quick to announce a battle, "Now! Attack Charioteer of Prophecy! Aurora Burst!"

The attack was declared and Ayumi's monster used both of her hands and gripped the staff tightly while

pointing the sharp end at Charioteer of Prophecy. A strange noise crackled off the staff as it began to glow in a fuchsia light followed by flares of light radiating from the very tip as energy was building up. The golden gem momentarily flashed various colors before a massive beam of light blasted out from the staff. A shockwave of wind exploded out at the area of impact as the horse rider was engulfed in a massive explosion that even shocked Jun as he was sent flying back.

Ayumi- 1900 LP  
>Jun- 2100 LP<p>

"Now I can activate Break! Draw!'s effect since ARM Staff destroyed your monster, I draw a card from my deck!," Ayumi explained as she drew her card. The card she drew though was a Monster Card with a handy effect as she made a mental note in her mind about it.

Jun was now the one who had to recover but Ayumi was still injured from the previous attacks as well as her left arm started to sting a bit.

She prepared, "I'll end my turn."

Despite being injured and wounded, once Jun heard those words, he quickly had a self-assured grin on his face and started his turn, "I see why ARM Staff is considered the magic expert of the Astro Relic Maidens but now it's my turn!"

He turned the card over and his grin got even wider as his formulated plan was about to take place, "Hahaha! This was even better than I had planned! Your setup would hold against a normal duelist but I'm not normal, I'm a superior duelist! That was your last turn and I'm ending this duel now! If that was a pro level play, then consider this a champion level play!"

A blue pulse began to signal from the top of the Grand Spellbook Tower, "Thanks to effect of my Field Spell, when I have Spellcasters in my graveyard during my Standby Phase, I will return a Spellbook of Power from my graveyard to the bottom of my deck to draw one card!"

The Spellbook of Power was moved from the graveyard to the bottom of Jun's deck as the blue pulse from the tower reacted with his deck and he added another card to his hand.

Next though Jun revealed three more "Spellbook" Spell Cards from his hand and explained why, "Since I just showed you Spellbooks of Secrets, Power and Life, I can Special Summon High Priestess of Prophecy from my hand with no tributes!"

A portal opened and a monster leaped out and hovered over the ground but it was actually sitting on a near transparent green disk of magic. The pink-haired High Priestess was wearing white robes with dark silver trimmings that covered nearly everywhere except some parts of her hair, face, neck and collarbone. With a wave of her hand, a dark green and blue textbook of some kind appeared in her hands. Despite her appearance, she had a strong amount of magical power emanating from her body (ATK: 2500, Level 7).

"Next, I activate the Spell Card, Spellbook of Secrets!"

Jun played the card as a white book levitated to around High Priestess of Prophecy's height before its locks were broken as well causing white light followed by strange runes and letters to shoot out as Jun grabbed his deck, "I add a 'Spellbook' card of my choice from my deck to my hand and I choose Spellbook of Judgment!"

Before Ayumi could say anything, Jun quickly continued, "Not only my High Priestess but I'll summon Hermit of Prophecy to the field as well!"

From out of the materialized Monster Card, a light began to take the form of a very elderly magician wearing purple and silver robes with blue gems encrusted in various spots on the robe. In his hand was a large wooden staff with gold-plated edges and tip in addition to a glowing blue and turquoise gem with silver patterns in the edge's center. Looking at The Grand Spellbook Tower, the elderly man chuckled jovially and felt right at home (ATK: 1200, Level 3).

Now Jun seemed to have the momentum, "I have more Spell Cards to show you like the one I recently added to my hand, Spellbook of Judgment! Like the card says, let this be a symbol of the power that I possess and bring judgment down on my foes!"

A large source of light suddenly appeared far above the duelists and towards the skies even beyond The Grand Spellbook Tower. Ayumi looked up and covered her eyes from the light as she noticed a large symbol resembling a vertical ribbon with wings on its sides. The so-called wings were red and green and the ribbon-like object was blue and yellow on the bottom and purple and brown on top. All the colors converged onto the center blue crystal which was the source of the sudden shine of light.

"So this is the light of one of the stronger 'Spellbook' Spells out there. It's suppose to be one of the final 'Spellbooks' ever created," Ayumi responded with some awe and surprise at the sudden appearance of this great legacy.

Jun smugly replied, "Of course but like I said earlier. This card is merely for show since I'm going to end this duel before this card even gets its effect. It's merely a glorious showing of my knowledge and skill! This card's power allows me to see who is worthy and who is not! It shows that I have the right to prophecize and control the fates of those I duel and that Nightfall will control the fate of the dueling world and guide it towards a proper future!"

For a moment, Ayumi didn't say anything but she was deep in thought and sighed to herself, _"Jun...At the beginning, I hoped that I could reason with you. Maybe to get you to stop this duel...to stop any further damage that you or Nightfall could cause without resorting to dueling. If you think I'm going to standby and let my friends and maybe even Heartland City lose their lives here for Nightfall's victory, that's something I can't do,"_ the girl considered with quiet fury as she clenched her shaking fist, _"With the way you're thinking and acting now, I guess that a duel is the only option."_

Hermit of Prophecy raised up his hand as white runes of power circled around him and increased his magical prowess (Hermit ATK: 1200+300= 1500 ATK , Level 3+2= 5).

The Nightfall duelist provided the reason why this was happening, "This card gains 2 Levels and 300 ATK every time a 'Spellbook' Spell Card is activated!"

Jun continued with his turn, "I use the powers of Spellbook of Life! Thanks to this card, by banishing Amores of Prophecy and showing you the Spellbook of Power in my hand, I can Special Summon Charioteer of Prophecy from my graveyard in Attack Position and equip it with this card. The monster revived also gains Levels equal to the Level of the monster I banished to activate this Equip Spell!"

The Spell Card digitized onto the field and a shining crystal book levitated upwards and opened itself before glowing with energy. A white image of Charioteer of Prophecy formed behind the book as the monster's image became more and more realistic until the horse rider was revived once more (ATK: 1800, Level 4)

"That monster again?!" the dark brown haired girl shouted out.

"Amores of Prophecy is Level 3 and Charioteer of Prophecy is Level 4! Thus, Charioteer is Prophecy's new Level shall be Level 7!"

An image of Amores of Prophecy appeared in a form of light that vanished into golden rain of light that showered down on Charioteer of Prophecy as the white horse gallantly stood on its legs and stomped downward (Charioteer Level: 4+3= 7).

Jun pointed towards the elderly Spellcaster, "Now for my Hermit's effect once more! He gains another 2 Levels and 300 ATK since Spellbook of Life was easily activated!"

Now, even more runes circled the hermit who had full control of his new power thanks to his vast experience (Hermit ATK: 1500+300= 1800 ATK , Level 5+2= 7).

Thought Ayumi was furious, she calmed herself and noted the state of the duel, _"He just got two more Level 7 Monsters!"_

"Let me show you the monster that crushed Yuushi's spirit and threatened his life!", Jun exclaimed.

The ARM duelist did not move an inch as she heard those words but Jun swung his arm and made his move, "I Overlay Charioteer of Prophecy and Hermit of Prophecy!"

The senior Spellcaster became a brown ray of light and the horse rider turned into a green ray of light as both rays circled each other upwards into the sky.

"I use these two monsters to build the Overlay Network!"

A red portal opened which soon drew in the two rays causing the portal to explode outward in a burst of energy.

"Herald of knowledge from the world beyond! Indulge forth the essence of enlightenment! Xyz Summon! My ultimate monster, Hierophant of Prophecy!"

From the sky, a male Spellcaster wearing black robes with gold and shining green gems descended down and landed beside the female Prophecy monster. Jun's ace monster opened up his eyes which made the black markings on his face more pronounced. His robe had several areas with long talismans attached to the ends and chains of gold. Upon his head was a golden spiked green encrusted helmet with an appearance of a crown fit for a monarch. In one hand was a golden staff with green and silver jewels along the upper hilt and a large green crystal on the tip. Surrounding the monster was its two dark purple Overlay Units which left behind a dark trail of light (ATK: 2800, Rank 7, OU: 2).

"Perhaps in the past you were strong but that was long ago! I heard that the Machine Princess was considered a genius, a prodigy, a once in a generation duelist even among the pro world! You should have used your greatness and crushed all who opposed you and risen to the top! Now it is too late and as I said at the start, your reign will be trampled on starting right now!"

Some of those words caused the former pro duelist to waver somewhat as old memories started to be brought back to the surface of her mind. Regardless of his mocking, Ayumi kept quiet and focused her attention on the two Prophecy monsters. The first monster to make a move was Hierophant of Prophecy.

"I activate Hierophant's effect! I can destroy Spell and Trap cards on your field once per turn by detaching one Overlay Unit from this card! The number of destroyed cards is up to the number of 'Spellbook' Spell Cards in my graveyard. Since you only have two Spell Cards on the field and I have at least two 'Spellbook' Spells, all your Spells and Traps on the field are gone! Go, Prophecy Ray!"

One of its two Overlay Units were absorbed into the ace monster's fist as the power travelled down the monster's hand into its index finger. The finger fired off a very thin yet precise and concentrated beam that quickly swept Ayumi's side of the field. Right after, two explosions triggered as the girl shielded herself from the blast which shook and shattered the ground near her. Both Gravity Blaster and Break! Draw! were caught in the blast as the small attachment to ARM Staff disappeared. Despite both Equip Cards being destroyed, Ayumi's own monster did not lose any Attack Points.

"Also, I activate High Priestess's effect! I'll destroy your ARM Staff by banishing Spellbook Organization from my graveyard! This can only be done once per turn but it's all I need!"

Particles of light converged in front of High Priestess of Prophecy which soon became a solid mirror that rapidly solidified and reflected ARM Staff in its image.

"Mana Protection!", Ayumi shouted to her monster.

Hearing her command, the girl's monster cast a spell as her staff began to glow responding to her will. A barricade of transparent light green-tinted magical crystal solidified between the two monsters. The mirror shattered into pieces as a strange force broke the crystal defense but despite that, nothing happened to each monster in the end.

"No matter how strong your monster, it should have been destroyed! How did you do that?!", Jun demanded to know.

His opponent answered the question, "Not only can you not negate ARM Staff's Synchro Summon but this monster is unaffected by my opponent's monsters' effects. As one of the main guardians of the Astro Relic Maidens, these effects also cannot be negated."

Though Jun was annoyed, he ultimately did not care about those effects at all, "That cheap trick isn't going to stop me! If your monster can't be beaten with monster effects, then I'll just destroy it in battle! I activate Spellbook of Power! In case you don't remember, that's another 1000 ATK for my monster!"

The Normal Spell Card digitized onto the field as this time, the fiery book was held in Hierophant of Prophecy's hands giving it just a great an ATK boost as the last time this card was used (Hierophant ATK: 2800+1000= 3800 ATK).

With that, Hierophant of Prophecy was currently the monster with the highest ATK on the field as Jun smirked, "My instincts did say that one monster may not have been enough to finish you but that's why I have used my great insight to call upon two monsters to win this duel! Don't you see! It was planned! It was planned all along from my first turn! Being a superior duelist, I have not forgotten to pity those below me! Surrender now and save your ace the embarrassment of your greatest defeat! "

"Sorry but if you want to get past me, then you'll have to win this duel yourself! You have people in Nightfall depending on you but...I also have friends that need me now more than ever!"

Jun shook his head, "Then I'll grind that ace monster of yours into dust! Attack, Hierophant of Prophecy! Obsidian Barrage!"

While holding the Spellbook of Power, Hierophant of Prophecy's powers were amplified as black-silver lights obscured the skies above The Grand Spellbook Tower. A second later, black-silver magical shards rained down on ARM Staff triggering numerous explosion on contact. Ayumi made a move and defended herself from the explosion with all her might. Though some rubble hit her body, she was still fine as she could hear Jun's mocking laughter on the other side.

"Hahaha! How's that?! Now...", Jun began to say as he stopped himself for a moment sensing something was wrong.

As the explosion cleared, there was another figure besides Ayumi in the dust which then settled to Jun's shock. It was the fuchsia haired ARM Staff still standing but this time the monster had a golden glow of power which was not there before. Checking on its stats, Jun noticed that the monster actually had much higher attack than before (Staff ATK: 3200+1000= 4200 ATK).

"My ARM Staff isn't about to be defeated that easily!", she shouted out.

Jun was in complete shock that his attack failed, "4200 ATK! Impossible! Just how...?! You had no Spell or Traps on the field beforehand! Hierophant of Prohecy made sure of that and you should not have had any monsters standing thanks to High Priestess of Prophecy but I calculated that already...so how?!"

A card popped out of Ayumi's graveyard as she showed him a Monster Card, "Because of ARM Circle's effect, ARM Staff gained 1000 ATK and can negate the effect of the monster its battling by sending ARM Circle from my hand to the grave. Since my field wasn't a good option, I had to use other means to get around those effects."

"The hand you say?!"

She continued, "Since my monster's still around, ARM Staff counterattack!"

After a quick charge, a fuchsia sphere of light formed in front of ARM Staff's weapon as she spun it over her head and quickly pointed it at Hierophant of Prophecy. A massive beam of energy was shot out at the monster causing a flash of light and an explosion which caused Jun to step back and cover himself. Even the edges of The Grand Spellbook Tower were affected as the explosion took off small pieces from the building as the debris fell in the background. Though he was not wounded physically, his pride was clearly shaken as he growled with anger.

Ayumi- 1900 LP  
>Jun- 1700 LP<p>

The male duelist grinded his teeth but calmed himself. At this moment, continuing to challenge ARM Staff with High Priestess would be foolish and he had no more cards on the field or his hand to do anything else.

"I end my turn!"

Jun expression changed as he seemed irritated, "You fool! You realize that there is a cost you have to pay for dueling me! Why do you go so far to avoid seeing the obvious defeat?! You should have let me finish this duel and let the world run its course!.

He pointed up to the sky where Ayumi remembered his so-called symbol of power which began to glow as thin rays and particles of light showered the battlefield, "You think you've already won but remember I had Spellbook of Judgment this whole time and now it's time to reap the rewards!"

The particles of light reached the ground and blessed Jun's deck as he grabbed it and looked through before telling why, "After I activated Spellbook of Judgment, I played two Spell Cards; Spellbook of Life and Power. This means that I can add two 'Spellbook' Spell Cards and Special Summon a Level 1 or 2 Spellcaster-Type monster from my deck. I'll add Spellbook Of Fate and Spellbook of Power as well as calling out Stoic of Prophecy!"

The large multi-colored symbol completely evaporated now as Jun added the two cards into his hand and a figure formed in front of him. It was another magician with orange hair, blue garments and brown-red pants. In both the figure's hands were large javelins, each with a large gold frame near the top and metal tips for stabbing. However, the overall appearance of the Spellcaster and his weapons seemed more for ceremonial purposes than for battles (DEF: 200, Level 1).

Thought Ayumi regained her footing in the duel, she was happy about it but there was something else in the back of her mind, _"Jun's dueling for the sake of Nightfall. No matter what I think about him, he does have a cause that he believes in to the end. But this is all too familiar..."_

* * *

><p>Three years ago, Ayumi was in her room as she grabbed ARM Staff and placed it on top of her extra deck and smiled.<p>

"Thanks to my grandparents' cards and some searching of my own! I finally did it! I finished my deck!," the younger girl smiled to herself.

She was more optimistic ever since she met Yuushi and she looked at a flyer for an amateur Duel Monsters tournament. Her D-Pad was open to the webpage of the tournament and there were images of warriors, dragons, sea monsters, angels, machines, thunder bolts and trees among other things, "A lot of people at school and even some teachers and my parents said I should try so why not? Let's see how far I can go!"

She received another message from Yuushi that read, "Good luck!"

The next day, she made it to the finals and was facing a teenage girl.

"Attack now!", the younger girl announced.

An ARM monster with a spear charged forward and with a barrage of rapid thrusts, Ayumi's opponent was defeated as her Life Points hit 0.

The teenage girl was disappointed but ultimately congratulated her opponent who was now winner of the tournament with that victory.

Later on as Ayumi was leaving, there was a man with sunglasses who saw her skills and approached her

"Interesting win. A close match but I guess against a pro, matches like that are to be expected. If you really liked duels like that, let me show you a place I come from where there are plenty of duels such as the one you just went through," the man commented to her before pulling out a flyer and offering it to the girl.

The young Ayumi took the poster but was confused, "What's this?"

The scout said, "How would you like to test your skills in a pro league overseas? I saw you duel and I'd say with some experience in a bigger league, you could display your skills and make something out of it. You don't even have to make champion, even the big names live a pretty nice life but of course, everyone should aim to be number one and you are no exception. The leagues and regions around Heartland City might not be so accepting of such a young pro duelist but I believe that skill and talent are all that's needed. I understand that it's a lot to take in this quickly so talk to your parents about it and in the next few days, if you feel like it, my contact info is on the flyer."

The next night after a talk with her parents, Ayumi accepted the man's invitation and she wanted to message Yuushi but held back, "I'll surprise him. When I make it near the top someday, I'll tell him and then maybe we can have a real duel together. I wonder how much better he will have gotten by then but I bet he'll be shocked. Until then, I have to work my way up."

* * *

><p>A year after the scout had appeared and she had already moved overseas, she had been training and preparing herself. During this time, she had an extremely impressive record with nearly no losses but she was against lower ranked duelists so many people did not really think too much of it. Now was different though as she entered a large stadium and was featured in one of the major duels of the day. Little did she know that this day would be the day that things changed in a way she didn't anticipate. She was facing an adult man with brown spiked hair, leather boots and gauntlets and wore a blank blue and white shirt. Her opponent used to be relatively high in the standings but has fallen a lot lower since then but Ayumi thought that this person would still be her toughest opponent yet.<p>

As the duel continued, a blast of severing wind shot out towards Ayumi but she used a Trap Card as ARM Staff endured the blast.

"Aurora Burst!"

"Take the attack!"

A dark purple veil covered the opponent's vampire creature but the power of Aurora Burst was too much as an explosion blasted the large man backwards onto his back. His Life Points hit 0 and the crowd cheered and deafened the stadium with their shouts.

"Wow...", one spectator said.

Another stood up, "She's so young but she beat him. This Ayumi kid must be a genius at dueling or something! She's on a big winning streak now right?"

Despite the damage only being virtual, his opponent did not really feel like getting up as Ayumi made her way over to him but instead of the usual, the encounter was much different.

"No...my life, my whole dueling career to support my family...it was riding on this duel today! And I can't believe I lost to this brat!"

Hearing those words as a kid, Ayumi did not really know what to say. She was speechless but tried to cheer him up, "Well, it was fun at least right?"

Those were the wrong words as the man gritted his teeth furiously, "Fun? Fun, you say?! Maybe in your dream world of ponies and rainbows but kid, the real world depends on one thing and that's victory! You might not understand now but you'll remember these words one day. The higher you go up, the more people who want to see you go down. You have to keep winning to stand at the top! To do that you have to crush the losers whether you like it or not."

"_If my words won't do anything, maybe Yuushi's will..."_

She spoke up and offered a handshake, "You can move on and try again though right? If you lose, you can just get up."

The man was disgusted, got up and walked away, "Some optimistic trash. Not interested."

Ayumi could not believe what she heard but under the crowd's thunderous noise, only she could hear the man's words while the only thing the audience saw was the rejected handshake.

Soon after, she did research on the duelist she defeated and found out that he was once near the top of the rankings but he went on a huge losing streak and rapidly fell down rankings. Sponsors were lost, his fans were dwindling and now there was news that he lost to a kid and refused to shake her hand afterwards. According to the news, people said that it was a safe to assume that his dueling career was over.

After that incident, she could not really get into duels like she used to. Although she could still win about the same as before, she could not really feel happy about it. For every win she took, someone had to lose something which was unavoidable and the nature of the world. Though they did not always show it as outwardly as the brown spiked haired person did, she could feel their pain and sadness.

One day, she wanted to message Yuushi and ask for his advice but decided against it, _"If I tell Yuushi this...it's not the good news I wanted to share with him. He showed me how to act as a proper duelist but right now, I don't think I can. To be a duelist means giving it your all and not holding back but if I do that, then I'll upset a lot of people. I can't face Yuushi right now until I really know what the true definition of a duelist is. I owe him that much at least."_

* * *

><p>By this time, it was almost two years ago from the present as she was still overseas dueling. While the opponents were certainly getting stronger, Ayumi managed to hold on quite decently. However, she was already depressed and really did not feel like dueling as much as she used to. By now, she had already been called things such as Machine Princess, genius, prodigy and duelist that appears once in a generation.<p>

She was about to duel another opponent but she was thinking over what she was really working towards all this time and why, _"All the work, the effort, the training that not just me but others as well. I'm sure a lot of people put more into this and have a lot more to lose than me."_

Looking at her duel, she sighed, _"Whether luck, skill, fortune, talent, the work my opponent put in always drove them to despair. I guess its the greater the hope, the greater the fall. Some say I'm a genius and I don't really mind what they call me. All I've seen is that geniuses can reverse the hard-working time and effort of people and break it in just moments. I don't think that's a reason to duel and until I can move forward, I don't think I can show myself on the world stage. Is that really it though? In any case, I need some time to get answers."_

* * *

><p>In the present, she looked at Jun and prepared to start the seventh turn of the duel, <em>"This is about more than just me right now. I can't lose! If I do, Nightfall may continue to destroy people's hopes and dreams. I don't have any of my answers but that's no reason why Yuushi and anyone else can't get theirs. I'll put everything I have to make sure he at least can move on. ARM Staff will be the guardian that ensures the hope that I'll pass onto Yuushi."<em>

"My turn! Draw!"

It was a second Trap Card but without Hierophant of Prophecy's effect to wipe out all her Spell and Traps cards and knowing that Jun's hand contained Spellbook of Power and Spellbook of Fate, she felt that these countermeasures would best be used now, "I set both these cards face-down!"

She looked over to the other female monster on the field other than her own, "ARM Staff, attack High Priestess of Prophecy!"

The Machine-Type monster braced herself as she charged up a sphere of magic that quickly grew in size and was fired off. A flare of light triggered as the beam quickly travelled to High Priestess who had raised up a magical force field of some sort. However, the force field was quickly overcome as Jun stood his ground and braced for the explosion.

Ayumi- 1900 LP  
>Jun- 1000 LP<p>

"I end my turn!", the girl stated as the explosion wore out.

Jun was seething with rage but contained it as he drew a card, "Let me show you what happens when I get serious!"

First, he pointed to the colossal tower, "I use my Field Spell's effect again! I return Spellbook of Secrets from my graveyard to the bottom of my deck and then I draw one card!"

Particles of light from the somewhat damaged tower rained down again as the top card of Jun's deck glowed with a blue light. The blue card was drawn and added to Jun's hand which now contained all Spell Cards, Spellbook Spell Cards to be exact, as Jun widened his eyes with malice.

"Firstly, I activate a second Spellbook of Life by banishing Hermit of Prophecy and revealing Spellbook of Power in my hand! I'll revive High Priestess of Prophecy since she's the strongest monster I have with Levels in my graveyard! She also gains three Levels because I banished my Hermit for the cost!"

The crystal book levitated out of a summoning portal as the senior Spellcaster was seen for a moment before fading into light which formed the pink-haired High Priestess as her white and dark silver robes shimmered upon her appearance (ATK: 2500, Level: 7+3= 10).

"Here's a Spellbook you haven't seen yet! Spellbook of the Master!"

After a swift motion of his hand, the card materialized onto the field as it began to glow. Jun flipped over Spellbook of Fate in his hand and showed it to his foe.

"I have a Spellcaster so let me show you something interesting! Most Spellbooks can only be activated once per turn but Spellbook of the Master can copy the effect of a Normal Spell Card in my graveyard! So here's something you'll recognize! I'll increase the strength of my High Priestess of Prophecy with Spellbook of Power's effect!"

The red-orange tome was absorbed into High Priestess's own dark green and blue textbook. Once again, another of Jun's monsters benefited from the effects of that Spell Card (High Priestess ATK: 2500+1000= 3500 ATK).

"Its more powerful than my monster now," Ayumi realized.

He grabbed another card, "Last time you had a card in your hand to save you but now your hand is completely empty! Your monster has overstayed its welcome so allow me help you fix that! I activate Spellbook of Fate and choose its third effect for this situation! ARM Staff might be resistant to monster effects but Spell Cards go through its defense! When I have a Spellcaster on the field, by banishing three 'Spellbook' Spell Cards from my graveyard, I outright banish your monster!"

"What?!", the girl exclaimed.

From Jun's graveyard, Spellbook of Power, Spellbook of Judgment and Spellbook of the Master appeared out of a golden light into the air. High Priestess of Prophecy's tome reacted with the three books as she began to control the flow and movement of the golden light. The three books turned golden as well before being engulfed by the light as runes formed in their place.

"I activate Nova Shade! This card will protect my guardian!"

Jun shouted back, "You fool! Did you not hear me just now?! This card outright banishes your monster! It's not a target effect so your trap can't stop it!"

ARM Staff put out its left arm as a black-blue transparent aura surrounded her. The runic beam collided with the aura which deflected the beam around it as the areas besides Ayumi exploded with a violent tremor. Though the explosion further shook her body, her mind was shaken much worse from Jun's increasing frustration and her own feelings.

"No! How did she survive that spell?! ARM Staff should be banished by now!"

"Nova Shade isn't just an ordinary defense. First, it places a Shade Counter on any Level 5 or higher 'ARM' monster and then when I need to, I can remove a Shade Counter to prevent that monster from leaving the field thanks to Spell or Trap effects, " Ayumi said revealing her Trap Card's effect.

Jun mockingly grinned, "I calculated that you could block that. Since you just used that face-down, I'll target your other face-down with High Priestess of Prophecy's effect! If I can't destroy your monster with her effect, I'll destroy that card instead!

To pay for High Priestess's effect, Jun banished his own Spellbook of Life from his graveyard. Using her power, a magic mirror took shape from nearby light which reflected the image of the face-down card which then flipped face-up showing that it was another Trap Card.

Ayumi explained herself, "I activate my Force Armor trap before her effect destroys it! This card prevents a Level 7 or higher Machine-Type monster from being destroyed in battle this turn! Not only that but if you choose not to battle the monster affected by this card this turn, you take damage equal to its Level or Rank times 100."

Closing her eyes and levitating further upwards, all the golden-blue plate armor on Ayumi's monster suddenly illuminated the area in a bright light before fading away. Though the majority of the light faded, the armor was now imbued with a strange energy causing it to become covered in a mysterious aura matching the armor's color. Jun was now starting to worry as he was running out of ideas. He knew that Ayumi also knew that his last card was Spellbook of Power which in this scenario was good but not game-winning material. For moments, he stared at that one Spell Card and shook with extreme anger. Though he wanted to save his Spellbook of Power for another turn, with Force Armor's second effect, he could not afford to hold back as 800 potential damage followed by 700 during Ayumi's next Battle Phase against his High Priestess would be the end. From Jun's point of view, he felt as if he was being mocked by his opponent and her monster and in his world, that was unforgivable.

Despite his best efforts, there was only one move left for Jun that he could see, "I activate Spellbook of Power! When a monster benefits from this card, it gains 1000 ATK!"

That was the second time this turn High Priestess of Prophecy increased in power as she momentarily was surrounded by a red-orange veil of power (High Priestess ATK: 3500+1000= 4500 ATK).

"High Priestess, attack ARM Staff! Your Astro Relic Maiden will still stand but what about you?!", he screamed out.

The Prophecy monster closed her eyes and concentrated as spheres of turquoise energy suddenly became visible. Each of the numerous spheres were shot at ARM Staff's direction. Holding out her staff, her armor released a flash of light as a barrier of magic formed and absorbed several of the energy blasts. However, other blasts travelled past and exploded right by Ayumi who was blown away by the force and impact of the attack. With a scream of pain, she and nearly debris were blasted backwards as she slid on the ground along her back. She felt a numbness in her battered body but panted and eventually wobbled weakly back to her feet. A spike of pain went through her shoulder as she held and rubbed it for a moment before continuing.

Ayumi- 600 LP  
>Jun- 1000 LP<p>

Jun scowled, "Turn end."

As the effects of the two Spellbook of Powers ran out, High Priestess of Prophecy lost her aura and returned to normal (Priestess ATK: 4500-1000-1000= 2500 ATK). Though she was injured, Ayumi knew that she had the advantage now. Since the monster powered up by Spellbook of Power could not destroy her monster in battle, its secondary effect of adding 'Spellbook' Spell Cards could not be used.

"Draw!"

Looking at the card she drew, Ayumi took a moment to gather her thoughts as a negative feeling sunk into her heart, _"I can feel the disappointment and despair from Jun. Even though Nightfall has been putting fear into and harming duelists as well as endangering Heartland City...even though Jun sent all those duelists into a comatose state...I can feel something from him. He's not doing this just for fun. Behind his actions, I can feel that he has a purpose, a duty to fulfil for the sake of his group and that he's confident in that reason. As for me, I have my friends and others to protect too. But...does that give me the right, the power to take away whatever hopes and dreams he has...Sorry, but I have to. I don't have a choice now."_

A Spell Card digitized in front of Ayumi, "I activate the Equip Spell Card, Impulse Code! This card can only be equipped onto a Level 7 or higher 'ARM' monster! It has several effects but there's only one that I need right now which is the one that boosts my monster's ATK by 800!"

ARM Staff crossed her arms in front of her as beams of light shot out from her armor as the monster was enclosed in a bright sphere. Soon after, the bright sphere faded leaving behind ARM Staff expect now, her plate armor, cloth, gauntlets and boots had an additional frame added on. Overall it looked as if the armor had extensions crafted on and certain parts such as the armor by the limbs and shoulders stuck out more while other regions condensed. The staff also had an outer frame added onto the tip making it larger and the shaft was further reinforced (Staff ATK: 3200+800= 4000 ATK).

Jun was in complete shock seeing the opposing monster even stronger than before, "No! No! No!"

"ARM Staff, attack High Priestess of Prophecy with Aurora Burst!"

The powered up monster took aim with her weapon as concentrated light took form on the tip of the staff. Within seconds, a large beam of light was shot out releasing a powerful wave of energy as an aftereffect. High Priestess of Prophecy was engulfed in the blast causing as second explosion that destroyed the monster and the explosion travelled towards Jun. He tried to hold his ground but the explosion was powerful enough to consume him and send him flying back as he screamed.

Ayumi- 600 LP- WIN  
>Jun- 0 LP<p>

Though Jun still had Stoic of Prophecy who observed the duel, it did not matter as the duelist who controlled it had already lost. After the blast, Jun landed on his back as his landing cause a minor cloud of dust to pickup as all the monsters faded away and the area returned back to the lab with The Grand Spellbook Tower disappearing into light. Ayumi looked around and the room was completely devastated from the damage their duel caused. The last attack from ARM Staff left a crater in the middle of the room and the nearby ground was cracked and unstable. Screens and other materials were broken with snapped cords of electricity hanging from the ceiling. It was much darker than before as the lights were also shattered while the girl took a moment to catch her breath.

From Jun's point of view, he was staring upwards from his back with no more energy remaining as he muttered to himself, "How could I be the one who was not ready? Koji, you're on your own now..."

Though Ayumi could not hear his words, Jun's feelings of sorrow and despair sunk into her heart. She sighed deeply, _"I could see it in his eyes during that final attack. The hope I extinguished...is there anything I can do to change it? Duelists...their passion, spirit, determination, hope...I don't have any of those. I can't have a proper duel with anyone, at least not until I find how to be a real duelist myself. That wasn't a duel for me, that was a duel for the people who believed in me."_

However, now was not the time to think about such things as Ayumi was still in Nightfall's base. Though the building was now even more unstable, she had to move on and at least find and check on Yuushi to see if he was alright too. She looked over at Jun one more time briefly before heading out of the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

ARM Circle

Level 4

Fire Attribute

Machine/Effect

ATK: 1000, DEF: 1000

When an "ARM" monster you control battles during either player's damage step, you can send this card from your hand to the graveyard to have that monster gain 1000 ATK or DEF and negate the opponent's monster effect until the end of the Battle Phase.

ARM Staff

Level 8

Earth Attribute

Machine/Synchro/Effect

ATK: 2800, DEF: 2100

1 "ARM" Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuner monsters

This card is unaffected by your opponent's monsters' effects. This card's Synchro Summon cannot be negated. These effects cannot be negated.

Nova Shade

Trap Card

Place 1 Shade Counter on a face-up Level 5 or higher "ARM" monster you control. If an "ARM" monster would leave the field by Spell or Trap effects, you can remove 1 Shade Counter from that monster instead.

Force Armor

Trap Card

Target 1 Level 7 or higher Machine-Type monster you control, it cannot be destroyed by battle this turn. If the targeted monster did not battle this turn, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the targeted monster's Level or Rank x100.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 31 Preview<strong>

Yuushi: Finally! I'm pretty sure this room is where Koji is and through these doors, there had better be some answers there.

Yuushi: What? I can't get in! It's locked somehow! Wait, Arcanite Magician, do you know how to get in?

Yuushi: Even if I'm alone, I know that not only my friends, but even my parents and others in Heartland City are with me. That monster though, it's really strong! Chapter 31: The Chosen Two.


	32. Chapter 31: The Chosen Two

As Yuushi made his way towards the center of the bottom floor, the ground shook from something as he staggered and crashed into the wall. He would have fallen on his face if that wall was not there for leverage as he recovered his balance.

"Now what?", Yuushi said to himself concerned.

After taking a moment to think, Yuushi knew that the source of the explosion likely came from behind him. Although he wanted to run back and check on his friends, he scowled and started to run forward. The sooner that Yuushi could end all this, the faster he could turn around and help all his friends.

"_I made it this far because of Ryoko, Hikaru and Ayumi...if I were to turn around now, it would be insulting to all of us."_

The lone duelist continued down the dimly lit hall for several minutes until he turned a corner and noticed that this section was a long one-way corridor. What caught his eye though was a source of light at the end of the corridor. Although it was not very bright from where he stood, Yuushi considered the distance of the hallway and concluded that the light must at least have been coming from a strong source. Though dim from his spot, it would likely be much brighter as he continued to advance towards it.

"_Finally! That should be where Koji is and the source of that energy."_

Though Yuushi did not have an energy tracking device, the fact that the light got even more intense more than likely meant that even more power was building up inside that room. He quickly sprinted towards the light and reached a large door of some sort. The first thing Yuushi did was try to open it by pushing it like any other door but he was not surprised that the door was locked. Upon closer examination, the door did not have a handle either but rather a screen attached to a wall beside him at about the height of his shoulder.

"_How the hell do I open this?"_

Yuushi tried to find a slot or something for a keycard but there was nothing like that by the screen. Next, he tried banging the door several times with his fist to no avail and lastly, he tried touching the screen but neither the screen nor the door reacted at all.

"_I have to get in! If there's a way...any way...I won't give up until I find it!"_

As if reading his thoughts, Arcanite Magician suddenly began to glow as Yuushi pulled out the card from his Extra Deck. At that moment, the screen on the wall flashed as it started to react to Yuushi's Synchro Monster. The large door vanished which Yuushi did find a bit odd but nevertheless, he ran inside the illuminated room.

"What is this?!", he shouted out.

Scanning the room, it was relatively plain except for a large device at the back of the room. There was a large gap in the wall that this device extended to as it was also connected to a large computer near the back wall. Looking more closely, the device resembled a gigantic cannon or some sort though the barrel was the part that stuck out through the roof. However Yuushi was not alone as he saw a lone individual in the shadows staring down at the person who had just intruded into his room. This person was a male adult teenager with a gold striped black cloak that extended all the way down to his knees. Yuushi concluded that this was a cloak used to hide someone's identity but for some reason or another, this person close to have his face and dark blue hair revealed. To the cloaked person's side though was a wire which was connected to a custom Duel Disk on the cloaked person's arm. The wire led all the way to the computer at the back as the device crackled and electricity and lightning jolted outwards causing the light Yuushi saw earlier. Lastly, the person in the room had some sort of custom patch on his left eye resembling two lines that extended from his eyelid to his cheek. This spacious room was far different than the others since the machines and devices in the room were fully active.

Seeing the wire reminded Yuushi of another situation, _"Just like at the Waterworks."_

The highschooler started to charge forward but soon stopped as some of the discharged lightning struck in front of his feet. Though Yuushi wanted to get closer, the energy was too unstable and unpredictable as he stood his ground. As he looked at the other person, he could see a similar glowing card emanating from the custom Duel Disk.

"You must be Koji then," Yuushi concluded after seeing that card.

Now the two cards in the room were resonating and reacting with one other as both people could feel that something big was going to happen.

The other figure looked at Yuushi intensely, "Yuushi Sakudo. If you made it all the way down here, then Shiho and Jun must have fallen. Their sacrifice will not have been for nothing. You will see it for yourself, the start of a new generation and the saviors that will emerge from the remnants of this current age! Do you hear that, lord of the Spirit World?! I will have your Trial of the Two but it will be on my terms!"

Hearing that last sentence shocked Yuushi as he concentrated though he could not see or sense anyone else in the room, "Spirit Lord? What? Where?"

Koji responded, "You're holding a messenger for the Spirit Lord in your very own hands. I don't know how you got Arcanite Magician but did you think it was some sort of miracle? It was just an agent from the Spirit World sent to investigate our world. I'm sure you noticed it yourself. Whenever something happened during your duels. Feelings, emotions, strengths, weaknesses, any notable course you took, Arcanite Magician reacted to and read everything. That information was sent to the Spirit Lord for some purpose. It's likely that they're judging us."

Yuushi thought about it for a moment and remembered that the card certainly did react to him during the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament, the encounters with Nightfall, several duels with his friends, the meeting with the dragon warrior, the events when they raided the base and even right now among other times.

"Let's say I believe you and that I've been under observation for two years? Do you know why?", Yuushi asked slowly.

"I don't care whether you believe me or not. I'm just telling you what Nightfall has studied and concluded for ourselves. But...it's obvious why we're being monitored. It's because we will be invaded soon by the Spirit World led by the god of that world!", Koji screamed out.

Yuushi was thrown for a mental whiplash, "That still doesn't...why bother telling me all this?"

Koji interrupted, "This world is a place or trouble and sorrow! I tell you this because you think that destroying Nightfall and our plans will help out Heartland City but you're wrong! Ending our project will seal this world's fate! I suggest you quickly turn around!"

Yuushi shouted, "I don't know about this Spirit World or the Spirit Lord but what I do know is that Nightfall has been terrorizing duelists in Heartland City and harming people who have nothing to do with the Spirit World. I have Arcanite Magician but that doesn't mean that you can target whoever you want including my friends! That is the reason I'm going to stop you. I'm not turning around until we settle things."

"Duel Monsters has supernatural origins connecting back to the beginning of time and space. They draw on the souls and energy of living beings. Not just in our world but they affect other dimensions and realms that we cannot even comprehend...," the leader of Nightfall explained.

This time Yuushi interrupted with some of his own information, "From civilizations on our planet to the aliens and reaches of the cosmos, Duel Monsters has seen the light and darkness of the reaches of the galaxy."

"Then you do know a bit about the history of Duel Monsters. I'll cut to the point. All the energy from Duel Monsters, from duelists who sweat, strive, challenge, endure...all these emotions are extremely strong. Most duelists have signatures cards, ace monsters or otherwise, that represent who they are and its these cards that duelists pour their soul into. This includes all these emotions, feelings and bonds that they have formed. By draining the energy from these cards, we harness all the built-up power and use it for our own purposes."

Yuushi was getting more furious, "So that's why you went around and all the duelists Nightfall faced ended up in that coma-like state with blank cards! It was their ace cards! Not only that but you broke their bonds and any connections they built up using Duel Monsters! What gives you the right to take away people's lives and bonds like that?!"

"A minor side-effect I'll admit. However, the fabric that separates dimensions and worlds has been slowly weakening allowing even humans to set up bases near the border of the Spirit World. Our cards are enough proof of that. The god of the Spirit World has sent these cards to spy on us and eliminate us! Before that happens though, this weapon behind me will use all the energy we've drained from duelists and fire it off thus destroying the god of the Spirit World before his power consumes us all. Being so close to the Spirit World ourselves, it's impossible that this cannon will miss its target," Koji stated.

"That's crazy! You're going to start a war and cause such mass destruction just based on hunches and guesses?"

"Better safe than sorry! If it means saving the world and leading it to a better tomorrow, I will gladly destroy another world for that purpose! I will do what is right and unite all the power of duelists in order to accomplish this goal. This inevitable invasion...why else would the god of the Spirit World be monitoring us? Can you answer that?", challenged the cloaked figure.

Yuushi knew even less than Koji but sort of understood where he was coming from, "You're not uniting everyone at all. You're just forcing the energy of duelists to become some sort of fuel for your weapon. Even if you have good intentions, you're not seeing the whole picture. Everyone must learn that there are things that they cannot achieve by themselves in life. I tried to keep Arcanite Magician a secret and discover its secrets on my own but through dueling with my friends and the bonds we've built, it has led me down this path where I have learned so much and grown as both a person and a duelist. It is a truth in the world and something that is difficult but necessary."

The other figure got his Duel Disk ready, "We both have the power to change the world you know but I'm just taking a more active approach than sitting around doing nothing. However, I do want to see what you have to offer. I don't really care about what you think but in the end, if you were chosen by the cards, then try to bring me down like you said! If you defeat me, you'll get access to the control panel behind me but if you lose, then I will change the world forever and move it forward according to Nightfall's vision! I have defeated every challenge this so-called god has sent me and you will be no exception."

Seeing the cannon behind Koji get even brighter and hearing a constant sound and flashes of energy charging up, the control panel was his only hope of stopping the weapon. The boy activated his silver D-Gazer glasses as his dark green D-Pad extended out into a Duel Disk.

"Let's duel!"

Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Koji- 4000 LP<p>

Koji had the first turn and drew a card, "Let's see what you can do. I summon Dark Soldier – Doomed Herald!"

The monster appeared on Koji's side of the field as an ominous sensation filled the room. This monster was summoned in mid-air and seemed to be a bulky blue-skinned somewhat-demonic creature with glowing dark green lines all over its body. Half of its face was protected by a shattered plate helmet as Yuushi could see a glowing dark green scar diagonally across its face. The strangest part of the creature were its four massive legs that held the creature up as it crashed onto the ground (ATK: 1000, Level 3 Tuner).

"Then, since I have a Dark Attribute Fiend monster, I can Special Summon Dark Soldier – Inferno Warden by decreasing its ATK to 0!"

He quickly placed the card on his Duel Disk and small red portal formed beside the other four legged monster. This one was a orange-black larger creature with two legs and four arms. The mid-section of the monster was thinner than the rest of its body which had horns and appendages sticking out with the two horns on the sides of its head being the largest extensions of all. With a furious cry, the monster screamed out at Yuushi who gave a determined but slightly shaken stare back at the creature (ATK: 0, Level 4).

"_A Tuner and another monster already? Is this going to be his ace?"_

The leader of Nightfall raised up his arm, "I'm now tuning Level 3 Doomed Herald and Level 4 Inferno Warden!"

Both monsters were completely changing form as they both radiated a dark purple flash before disappearing. Doomed Herald changed into three bright lights which then expanded into three green rings surrounding an orange wireframe of Inferno Warden who then vanished into four bright lights.

"Synchro Summon! Dark Lord – Black Scourge!"

This combination triggered a flash of dark light as another large creature was summoned forth. Black Scourge was a three headed red-eyed brown-orange demon with one horn in the center of each head. Surprisingly, this creature was wearing magical brown armor covering its body and part of its legs. Koji's new monster clenched its left fist as the arm was consumed by an orange flame and Yuushi could only see fire now which encased the arm. In the monster's other arm, a large spiked club materialized as the three-headed behemoth cried out and shook the battlefield (ATK: 2000, Level 7).

The ATK value was a bit low which concerned Yuushi but Koji on the other hand seemed quite content, "I have two effects to activate! First, since I used Doomed Herald in that Synchro Summon, I get 600 Life Points!"

Yuushi- 4000 LP  
>Koji- 4600 LP<p>

"Secondly, my monster gains 100 ATK for each Dark monster in my graveyard."

As Koji just sent two monsters to the graveyard via his Synchro Summon, his monster gained an immediate 200 ATK point boost which was relayed to the boy through his glasses (Black Scourge ATK: 2000+200= 2200 ATK).

"I'll end my turn by setting this card!"

A face-down card materialized onto Koji's Spell/Trap Zone which meant that Yuushi could start his turn. Before he did anything rash, Yuushi took a moment to think this turn over because this was the most important duel that he had ever been in and losing was not an option. It was not just about relaying information he gained about Nightfall or the involvement and background of the Spirit World but preventing other coma-induced incidents or whatever else Nightfall could do.

It all started with a single swipe of his hand, "It's my turn! Draw!"

"I summon Magical Exemplar in ATK mode!"

One of Yuushi's favorite cards made her presence known. With her turquoise robes and forest green long hair, she opened her eyes as glyphs appeared down the center of her garments. Golden jewelry on her neck and forehead activated in resonance and with calming grace, an aura of white magic outlined her body (ATK: 1700, Level 4).

"I also play the Spell Card, Terraforming. This Spell Card lets me search for any Field Spell from my deck and add it to my hand."

Yuushi quickly went through his deck and then he revealed a Field Spell Card to Koji as his choice before adding it to his hand. His Duel Disk automatically shuffled the deck after his search.

"Magical Exemplar's effect activates! She gains two Spell Counters every time a Spell Card is played!"

The white glow around Yuushi's monster expanded outward before returning to normal except with two white spheres of magical energy near the female Spellcaster monster (Exemplar SC: 0+2= 2).

After his monster gained Spell Counters, he played the retrieved card right away, "You wanted to see what I could do, then that's what you'll get! The card I added to my hand and will now be activated is Magical Citadel of Endymion!"

Raising the card up, the Field Spell shot out green rays of light which lit up Yuushi's part of the field. Golden particles of light expanded out and transformed the battlefield from the dark and dangerous room of science into a large citadel of magic. Not only that but the difference was even more evident from the underground base to an open area as Yuushi felt more confident in this familiar environment. Surrounding the duelists were buildings of various sizes and functions but the most standout building in the town was the huge central tower that stretched towards the skies. An invisible barrier of runes reinforced an outer barrier that shielded the citadel from any potential danger.

"This card feels a bit more at home for my monsters. Now, Magical Exemplar's effect activates once again so I get two more Spell Counters!"

With another flash of white light, the amount of magical spheres around Yuushi's monster doubled as Koji did not seem too impressed but acknowledged Yuushi's ability as a duelist (Exemplar SC: 2+2= 4).

Yuushi grabbed a card in his hand, "Now to put those Spell Counters to good use! I can Special Summon a Level 3 Spellcaster-Type monster from my hand by removing three Spell Counters from this card! I call forth my Foresight Magician!"

Using her magical prowess, Magical Exemplar controlled three spheres of light and moved them beside her before merging their powers and opening a portal of light (Exemplar SC: 4-3= 1). Holding a mirror in his hands, a male magician jumped out and landed in front of the now vanished portal. Blue robes patterned with purple lining fluttered in the wind as the central green gem in the center of the robes lit up momentarily (ATK: 400, Level 3 Tuner).

This time it was Yuushi's turn for a Level 7 Synchro Summon, "Now to tune the Level 3 Foresight Magician to the Level 4 Magical Exemplar!"

Both Spellcasters nodded and flew into the air as they spiralled each other upwards towards the skies above the citadel. While going up, Foresight Magician turned into three green rings which encapsulated Magical Exemplar as four bright lights could be seen alongside her. A pillar of light struck through the rings and onto the ground as the duelists could see a different figure in the light.

"A magician matched only in the mythic era! The illuminating force from the cosmic legends! Synchro Summon! Appear, Arcanite Magician!"

A green circle of magic formed in the light before both the light and the circle of magic faded away. Inside was a blue-skinned short blue-haired humanoid equipped with enchanted light blue armor resembling a robe and an equally enchanted horned helmet. A green staff formed from seemingly nowhere in Arcanite Magician's left hand as the ace monster scanned the battlefield (ATK: 400+1000+1000= 2400 ATK).

"Koji, are you ready to face this monster? It's the one that has led me this far!", challenged Yuushi.

His opponent replied, "I know all about it and I'm more than ready. Just remember those words when you're the one who ends up buried here!"

Yuushi ignored him and continued, "Arcanite Magician might have low original ATK points but because of its effect, it gains two Spell Counters and 1000 ATK for each one so that it has quite a good amount of power despite that drawback."

There was a parting gift from Foresight Magician which was the green gem on its robes. It split in half and activated its latent energy which formed another mirror that reflected a card back to Yuushi.

"I can check the top card of my deck and return it to either the top or bottom of my deck when Foresight Magician is used as a Synchro Material Monster. I'll move this card to the bottom."

He put the card on the bottom of his deck as Yuushi could not see it being too helpful in his current situation as the mirror faded out of existence. The cloaked figure took a quick glance at his Duel Disk but did not do anything but study and observe the counterpart to his own monster sent from the god of the Spirit World.

"There's another card I'll activate! The Continuous Spell Card, Solidarity!"

As Yuushi swiftly placed the card on the field, it materialized just as quickly onto his side of the field.

"Now for it's effect! Arcanite Magician is a Spellcaster just like the cards in my graveyard so any Spellcaster on my field gains another 800 ATK!"

Arcanite Magician powered up and Koji realized that Yuushi did not activate that card earlier as it would have been useless with no Spellcaster-Type monsters in the graveyard (Arcanite ATK: 2400+800= 3200 ATK).

The large central tower in the citadel began to react to Yuushi's newly activated card. The bottom section of the tower was infused with magic from the card as markings and glyphs started to appear near ground level of the tower (Citadel SC: 0+1= 1).

Yuushi explained, "Each time a Spell Card is activated, this card also gains another Spell Counter which I can use in a variety of ways."

"Trying to stack up Spell Counters? It makes no difference to me. You can have all your precious counters!," Koji said mockingly.

This chain of Spell Card related effects reminded Koji of his Nightfall associate, Jun, who played in a similar manner but he did not show the expression of familiarity on his face.

Back to Yuushi who was still in the Main Phase of his turn, "I activate Arcanite Magician's effect! By giving up a Spell Counter, this monster can destroy your monster! Since Magical Citadel of Endymion is active, I can use its Spell Counters instead to substitute for Spell Counters of another effect that I would use once per turn!"

Though Koji knew about the effect of Yuushi's ace monster thanks to earlier observation, the other effect of the Field Spell shocked him as his eyes widened in disbelief, "What?!"

Like Yuushi stated, Arcanite Magician began to draw upon the magical reserve of energy held within the tower as light began to concentrate in the monster's staff (Citadel SC: 1-1= 0). As the energy became fully concentrated, the entire staff glowed with a green energy.

"Go now! Pulsar Wave!"

Hearing the command, Arcanite Magician raised up the green pulsating staff which released two waves of energy heading towards Dark Lord – Black Scourge.

Koji swung his arm and revealed a card, "I activate a trap, Demonic Vortex!"

A black and red wall of wind and dust enveloped Black Scourge blurring the Fiend-Type Monster in a violent tornado. Lightning struck the red tornado around the same time as Arcanite Magician's two shots of magical power. The two crescents were repelled off the vortex as they sliced the ground beside the monster before exploding. Though the blast was loud, Black Scourge was unharmed and the vortex dissipated just as quickly as it appeared. Even worse, according to Yuushi's D-Gazer, the ominous vortex actually boosted Black Scourge's power (Scourge ATK: 2200+800= 3000 ATK).

The blue-haired foe chuckled, "That card allows a 'Dark Lord' or 'Dark Emperor' to not be destroyed by card effects and 800 more ATK until my next End Phase!"

Yuushi was not deterred since Koji only had the lone monster on his field now with less ATK than his own monster, "Go, Arcanite Magician! Attack Black Scourge! Starlight Horizon!"

The Spellcaster prepared the attack by charging up and forming a large blue-green sphere at the tip of its staff. After a few moments of reaching sufficient strength and increasing in size, Arcanite Magician swung its staff as the large magical sphere burst outward and released a massive beam. The Dark Lord braced for impact by getting into a stance and moving its body downwards and raising its spiked club. With perfect timing, the Dark Lord released a huge burst of energy in its body and charged forward tackling the beam. The brown armor took the attack and though Black Scourge started to get pushed back, it endured long enough for the armor to activate as Arcanite Magician's attack lost its strength and vanished. After it was all over, the only notable thing was that Black Scourge was forced slightly back from its original position.

This time, Yuushi was the one caught off-guard, "Wait! It's still there?! Even with the ATK point difference?!"

"You probably realized it by now but my Synchro Monster cannot be destroyed in battle and I take no battle damage from battles involving Black Scourge! My monster can repel any head-on attack with ease, especially a measly one like that!", boasted Koji.

"I set a card and end my turn."

A face-down materialized beside Solidarity as Yuushi realized, _"There's almost no point in battling that card at this point."_

Now, he heard mocking laughter coming from the other side, "You accomplished nothing this turn! But don't worry because now I'll draw!"

Koji started the third turn of the duel, "Watch this! I play a Continuous Spell Card, Battle Calamity!"

The card digitized onto Koji's side of the field as a light emitted from the card to signal its activation as the central tower in the Magical Citadel of Endymion reacted as well. At the bottom of the tower, glowing runes and glyphs revealed themselves and began to climb up signalling that an effect had occurred (Citadel SC: 0+1= 1).

"You just played a Spell Card which activates my Field Spell's effect giving it another Spell Counter!"

Even with another Spell Counter, Koji went on, "Now is a good time for Battle Calamity's effect! Once per turn, for every card on the field other than this card, I can send a card from my deck to the graveyard."

Since Dark Lord – Black Scourge, Arcanite Magician, Magical Citadel of Endymion, Solidarity and a face-down card were the five cards on the field other than Battle Calamity, the Nightfall duelist drew five cards and sent them to the graveyard. In order, they were the Tuner monster Dark Soldier – Delusion Fiend, the Trap Card Bark of Dark Ruler, the effect monster Dark Soldier – Evil Fist, another Dark Soldier – Inferno Warden and the effect monster Dark Soldier – Reaper Chain.

"Then for each Monster Card sent to the graveyard just now, you lose 300 Life Points for each one!", Koji finished explaining.

A black haze took over the field with Yuushi bracing for the powerful shockwaves shooting out from the center of the field. With four flashes of light, four explosions triggered and covered Yuushi in smoke and dust as he screamed out in pain and feel to one knee. Like Hikaru had told everyone, the damage here was real and Yuushi had now gotten a reminder of how brutal it could be.

Yuushi- 2800 LP  
>Koji- 4600 LP<p>

He received bruises and cuts from that last move but it was not any worse than anything he had already gotten used to by this point thanks to the Iron Curtain and other duels regarding the Spirit World. Regardless, it took him moments before he got up and panted heavily trying to catch his breath again.

"Since four more Dark monsters are now in my graveyard, Black Scourge gains another 400 ATK," Koji reminded his foe.

This time, the Dark Lord roared towards the skies of the citadel and stomped causing small tremors with each impact (ATK: 3000+400= 3400 ATK). The three-headed monster's club began to glow with demonic power as parts of the club flared up with a blood red color before exploding outwards into blood red and black flames. Even the previously flaming orange arm was now a similar blood red and black shade with even stronger flames.

"Now Black Scourge, make quick work of that monster!"

Even though Black Scourge was a bulky large monster, it still was able to hastily leap forward and in mid-air, the monster lifted its club and prepared to batter Yuushi's monster into nothingness.

"I have this!", Yuushi shouted out as he explained what his now revealed face-down would do, "The Trap Card, Barrier of Endymion! Now, my Spellcaster cannot be destroyed this turn!"

A clear barrier with red and pink markings similar to the barriers around the citadel protected Arcanite Magician. Striking down, the demonic monster hit the barrier which held off the brunt of the attack as the ground below shattered though no major damage was done. Even though Yuushi's ace monster was not destroyed, Arcanite Magician could not fully absorb the vicious impact of the monstrous club as a shockwave shot out from the attack. This wave knocked Yuushi in the stomach as he took the attack and had the wind knocked out of him. The boy fell to one knee with one eye closed as he panted in pain and exhaustion from the duel.

Yuushi- 2600 LP  
>Koji- 4600 LP<p>

The high school boy could feel the real Battle Damage as he clenched his teeth and made his way back to his feet. Despite the damage, he looked at the central tower as Koji noticed and saw something happening himself. The magical energy from the tower further climbed as corresponding markings and symbols lit the way for the path of energy (Citadel SC: 1+1= 2).

"Since Magical Citadel of Endymion is the current Field Spell, that card gives me another benefit. Instead of draining energy for Nightfall from this duel, my Trap Card draws upon the energy in battle and converts it to power for my citadel giving it another Spell Counter in the process."

Koji was annoyed, "Then I will end my turn and Black Scourge's ATK shall be reduced to 2600."

The drop in ATK was signalled by the Dark Lord losing the blood red and black glow in both his weapon and his arm (Black Scourge ATK: 3400-800= 2600 ATK).

Satisfied so far, the dark blue-haired duelist's said to Yuushi, "Looks like this duel is completely is my favor."

"_We'll see about that."_

After that moment, Yuushi started his turn, "My turn!"

He drew his card and started his turn. With the two cards in his hand being Trap Cards, Yuushi did not summon anything but went straight into the combat-related matters, "Since Demonic Wind isn't protecting your monster anymore, Arcanite Magician's effect will destroy it! Like before, I'll use Magical Citadel of Endymion for the Spell Counter cost!"

Particles of energy rained down on Arcanite Magician who drew the drops of light into its staff (Citadel SC: 2-1= 1). The weapon was swung twice, with both swings releasing a green crescent wave of concentrated magic energy that sliced through Black Scourge causing the monster explode off the field.

"I attack you directly with Arcanite Magician!"

Once again, the Spellcaster prepared its staff to launch another assault. The blue-green stream of energy was charged up and fired off with a crackling burst. Koji was enveloped in the blast as he was sent flying backwards screaming. His back was especially hit upon landing and sliding on the ground but he got up soon enough. Despite that, his spine was stiff from that previous attack.

Yuushi- 2600 LP  
>Koji- 1400 LP<p>

Though Yuushi had just scored a major attack, he could not let his guard down as the duel was still far from over, "It's my Second Main Phase and now that the damage has been done, I'll use Arcanite Magician's effect to destroy Battle Calamity! "

This time, Arcanite Magician drew upon its own power to cast its devastating spell. Because of this though, the burden on the monster was greatly increased as it lost a large amount of its magical reserve though the staff was indeed powered up (Arcanite ATK: 3200-1000= 2200, SC: 1). Two crescent waves went right through Koji's Continuous Spell as it digitized off the field in pieces.

"I set these two cards face-down and end my turn," Yuushi concluded as another two set cards materialized on the field beside his Solidarity Continuous Spell.

Koji took notice of the situation, "_You did get rid of Black Scourge which is a good feat but you don't understand, this is a duel I can't lose!"_

His next statement was out loud directed towards the intruder, "Arcanite Magician's main strength is in its ability to quickly and rapidly destroy cards with its ability. Battling is only secondary so it's only natural that a monster who's main strength is invulnerability only in battle would fall."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Yuushi confidently confirmed.

The Nightfall duelist's expression changed, "Don't think this is over. Now the real duel will begin! I'll show you the monster that was sent from the Spirit World. The counterpart to your Arcanite Magician, the Immortal Demon."

That statement caused the black haired duelist to scan the battlefield, _"I've gone almost all-out but he still has plenty of cards left in his hand. It's probably coming then, this so-called Immortal Demon."_

Something happened in the background of the duel. Although Magical Citadel of Endymion was the current field, Koji's machine was still able to disrupt the AR Vision as the wired device behind Koji started to crackle with lightning shooting out near the Nightfall duelist. Something was going to happen soon but Yuushi continued to focus on the duel.

Now he was wondering about what Koji had said to him all this time and looked at his Duel Disk, _"So is this the real Trial of the Two? Is it the two monsters or the two duelists...no, this duel will be determined by a combination of both these monsters and how strong we as duelists have developed alongside them."_

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Barrier of Endymion

Trap Card

Target 1 face-up Spellcaster-Type monster you control and this turn, it cannot be destroyed by battle or by other card effects. Then you can place 1 Spell Counter on "Magical Citadel of Endymion".

Dark Soldier – Inferno Warden

Level 4

Dark Attribute

Fiend/Effect

ATK: 1400, DEF: 1000

If you control a face-up Dark Attribute Fiend-Type monster, you can Special Summon this card from your hand but its ATK and DEF become 0.

Dark Soldier – Doomed Herald

Level 3

Dark Attribute

Fiend/Tuner

ATK: 1000, DEF: 700

If this card is sent to the graveyard as a Synchro Material Monster, you gain 600 Life Points.

Dark Lord – Black Scourge

Level 7

Dark Attribute

Fiend/Synchro/Effect

ATK: 2000, DEF: 1400

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Fiend-Type monsters

This card cannot be destroyed by battle and you take no Battle Damage from battles involving this card. This card gains 100 ATK for each Dark monster in your graveyard.

Demonic Vortex

Trap Card

Target 1 face-up "Dark Lord" or "Dark Emperor" monster you control. That monster gains 800 ATK and cannot be destroyed by card effects until your next End Phase.

Battle Calamity

Continuous Spell Card

Send cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard equal to the number of cards on the field except this card. For every monster card sent to the graveyard this way, inflict 300 damage to your opponent.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 32 Preview<strong>

Yuushi: Arcanite Magician is a really strong card but at this rate, it won't last. I'll show Koji how strong my deck and the bonds I have are!

Yuushi: So that's the card that Koji got from the Spirit World. The veil on that card has been lifted.

Yuushi: That effect...are you serious? Chapter 32: Destruction vs Creation. Everyone, I will settle this once and for all!


	33. Chapter 32: Destruction vs Creation

After Yuushi's last direct attack on Koji, the latter took a significant amount of damage to his Life Points. The only thing that mattered to Yuushi right now was winning this duel and keeping all his friends safe. Whether or not Koji's information about the Spirit World, the intentions of Nightfall or even being observed by the Spirit World right now, that sort of stuff he could consider later on. Currently, Yuushi had Arcanite Magician on the field at 2200 ATK with a single Spell Counter, Solidarity and two set cards with nothing in his hand. On the other side, Koji was the reverse with nothing on the field at all but three cards in his hand. Despite being in an underground base belonging to Nightfall, Yuushi's Magical Citadel of Endymion Field Spell with one Spell Counter changed the environment of the area.

Yuushi- 2600 LP  
>Koji- 1400 LP<p>

Despite his opponent having field advantage and more Life Points, Koji was not bothered at all but rather seemed more certain of his victory as he started his turn, "I draw!"

"With seven monsters in my graveyard, I can Special Summon Dark Soldier – Raging Seven to my field!"

Near Koji, a black armored white-haired demon dashed forward from a portal leaving behind a trail of black flames in its path. Though a steel mask was covering the monster's face and cloth was covering most of the monster's upper body and part of its legs, Yuushi could still see its black skin on its arms, hands, legs and feet. On the monster's index finger and right knee was a large piece of bone as the monster roared with its now red glowing hands (ATK: 2100, Level 7)

Now with three cards in hand, Koji made his move, "Now for Monster Reborn! This card lets me revive Dark Lord – Black Scourge in my graveyard!"

The Spell Card materialized onto the field and lit up as a portal opened up in front of Koji. Like before, the three headed demon rose up with its flaming orange arm. Swinging its spiked club, the monster roared triumphantly upon its return. Thanks to its effect, the Synchro Monster was 600 ATK more powerful than usual as Koji had six Dark Attribute monsters in his graveyard (ATK: 2000+600= 2600 ATK, Level 7).

Yuushi knew that there had to be a purpose behind summoning a monster with less ATK than Arcanite Magician and could be destroyed by Yuushi's monster's effect. Still, a Spell Card was just played so he told his opponent, "Magical Citadel of Endymion gets its second Spell Counter again thanks to your Monster Reborn!"

The level of magical energy on the central tower of the citadel climbed up to a similar level as before which was roughly a third of the way up as the bottom part of the citadel signalled with activated runes and glyphs (Citadel SC: 1+1= 2).

Part of Koji's Duel Disk lit up as Yuushi's Arcanite Magician followed suite. Even on the field, Arcanite Magician prepared to stand its ground as the monster could sense the incoming calamity. The two duelists each stared at the glowing cards but they both already knew exactly what was happening. It was a premonition to a long-awaited storm as the conditions on the battlefield were set up to bring forth this battle. Even Koji's machine reacted as it released bursts of lightning around the AR Vision and disrupted the duel momentarily. The only thing left was for Koji to continue on which he gladly did.

"I overlay my Level 7 Raging Seven and Black Scourge!"

The two Fiend-Type monsters on the field turned into two dark purple rays of energy that were drawn into an open red portal in the center of the battlefield.

"With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

Dark purple winds blasted out of the portal as the skies above the citadel turned black. Yuushi could barely stand as he stood his ground trying not to get blown over. Red lightning struck from above down on Koji's side of the field that shattered the ground as a figure rose from below.

"_Something's coming...what's with this power..."_, Yuushi thought to himself as his Arcanite Magician card began to react to the incoming summon.

"Conquering heaven and earth with overwhelming power! Immortal demon of darkness that will return the world to dust! Xyz Summon!"

For some reason, the room began to change as it lit up by having Koji's device transfer power towards the walls, ceiling and ground of the room through preset conduits that were everywhere in the room. Now there was an eerie silver glow coating the battlefield in addition to the surges of electricity from the device trying to overlap the AR Vision of the Magical Citadel of Endymion. One thing Yuushi could see clearly despite all this change was a glowing card in Koji's hand as he quickly slammed the card onto his Duel Disk.

"None may oppose this monster! Dark Emperor – Sovereign!"

The portal disappeared and the wind subsided leaving only the dimly lit area in the citadel remaining. Now though, there was a new dominant figure on Koji's side of the battlefield. Unlike every other card that Koji has shown so far, this monster was completely covered in armor in every way. The helmet resembled a black dragon's head with a dark purple faceplate where the mouth was, the chest armor and legs were red and black full plate with dark purple stripes and patterning while the arms, gauntlets and boots were dark red (ATK: 1700, Rank 7, OU: 2).

"So this is the Immortal Demon," Yuushi said to himself recalling Koji's previous words while adjusting his glasses back to normal.

Suddenly, Koji took a deep breath and looked up to the sky as the silver glow around the room got stronger with Koji's Duel Disk reacting to the glow. Suddenly, the cannon device in the back started to change form as parts of it began to expand and extend outward with the same silver glow.

The cloaked figure shouted out, "It has begun. My cannon now has enough energy to get into firing position! Now it just needs to charge up and it will be the end! The complete end of the Spirit World!"

The black-haired duelist fired back, "You were serious about all that then?! Tell me the truth! Is this all worth it? All the damage you've caused to Heartland City! You speculate that this god of the Spirit World or whoever is invading but what if they're not? What if there is another purpose behind the Spirit World investigating us?

"Your words mean nothing to me. If I can bring our world peace and salvation from these invaders, then I will do it. No matter the cost. I will accept this fate and whatever happens with it," Koji calmly stated.

"We need to find what's happening before we try anything crazy like this! If this fails, you know that the city and maybe even the world will probably be retaliated on in return right...and who knows what that will do?! What gives you the right to decide what will happen to everyone?!", Yuushi said trying to reason back.

"It will be too late by then! This god of the Spirit World...it takes us humans for fools! It thinks we will just sit here like pawns and push us around but that's not what will happen! I will end this because it is my destiny!" Nightfall's leader screamed out intensely.

Yuushi looked around as the field was getting more chaotic, "Koji, I have friends back in Heartland City and if your so-called destiny puts them in danger, then I'll put a stop to it myself!"

The duel continued with Koji pointing to his lone monster, "Strong words, Yuushi. Now let's begin and see our fates and find the answers we've both been looking for! Though I can't promise that you will like what you see. Sovereign had a few effects you should know about now. While it's on the field you cannot gain any Life Points and while my monster is in Attack Position, it cannot be destroyed by battle!"

Those effects did not bother Yuushi that much at this point since his deck was not too focused on recovering Life Points and Black Scourge was destroyed despite having the same protection from battles. However, Yuushi had a feeling that this card had more to it as he felt a powerful energy swelling up inside the Dark Emperor.

The dark blue haired duelist had another card in his hand, "Whoever is watching, I hope you're ready to see this performance! I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Black and White Wave!"

If Yuushi was not here seeing all this for himself and someone just explained what was happening, the boy would have thought the person was exaggerating. Yuushi still thought Koji was a bit insane but he knew that through any story or level of insanity, there was usually a hint of truth similar to how myths and legends themselves usually turn out.

The card appeared on the field as Koji grinned, "Since I have an Xyz Monster with a Synchro Monster as its Overlay Unit, I can banish your Arcanite Magician and then draw one card!"

"What?!," was all Yuushi could shout out before the card activated.

Sovereign raised up its fist as a white flame consumed its hand. Despite the white color, black light emitted from the flame before a white fireball was shot out. Though it appeared to be an ordinary fireball, light that reflected on the fireball curved around so it was almost blurry. Deep inside the fireball, Yuushi could see something spherical and made of light inside almost as if the fireball itself would lead to a different dimension.

The Spellcaster duelist quickly reacted with one of his face-down cards, "Now I'll show you something interesting! You said that Arcanite Magician and Dark Emperor – Sovereign were cards sent from the Spirit World to watch us...well, then you'd better pay attention to this! This is the power I've gained and worked for trying to protect duelists, the city and those I care about! The Trap Card, Assault Mode Activate!"

A burst of wind and white light blasted out from Yuushi as he raised up another card which was glowing white as well. Koji had never heard of this card as he wondered what would happen next. Before the white fireball could connect with Arcanite Magician and send it off to another dimension, the monster in question glowed momentarily before disappearing off the field as the fireball went straight past Yuushi.

His opponent opened his mouth in shock, "That can't be right!"

Yuushi chanted out with confidence, ""The evolving magician that resonates with the cosmos! Force of the buster known throughout!"

From the location Arcanite Magician disappeared from, particles of light converged as a green portal formed behind the small bits of light which then moved inward. The light collected into and around the portal turning it blue as a familiar figure made its way through. Arcanite Magician jumped out and floated down but this time, the monster was wearing heavier-looking red and dark purple robe armor. Not only that but its staff was larger and in a different shape with green spheres attached to both the tip of the staff and on key areas of the new armor (ATK: 900, Level 9).

"Mode Change! Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode!"

"That's Arcanite Magician isn't it?", Koji asked having never seen Assault Mode before.

Yuushi confirmed it, "This card lets me change Arcanite Magician's form into Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode from my deck by tributing the monster. Since I did that, your Black and White Wave's draw effect does not activate either."

Without saying anything Koji just observed the monster as Yuushi went on, "Since this card is also a Spellcaster, Solidaity gives it another 800 ATK and like with Arcanite Magician, this card gains two Spell Counters when Special Summoned and 1000 ATK for each one!"

The green gems began to radiate as Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode received a significant flow of magical energy increasing its power (Arcanite/AM ATK: 900+800+1000+1000= 3700 ATK).

There was one last thing Yuushi had to mention, "Since you activated another Spell Card, Magical Citadel of Endymion gains another Spell Counter!"

With another Spell Counter added to the central tower, the magical indicators and runes of the tower rose up again to around half-way up the tower which left the other half still inactive. Nonetheless, Yuushi was still quite pleased with the accumulation of resources at his disposal (Citadel SC: 2+1= 3).

Regardless of the new monster, Koji made his move, "I detach one Overlay Unit to activate Dark Emperor – Sovereign's effect!"

One of the dark purple Overlay Units surrounding the monster in question was absorbed into its armor as a powerful surge of energy could be felt from both duelists and monsters on the field which came from Sovereign (Sovereign OU: 2-1= 1).

"For every Fiend-Type monster in my graveyard, you take 200 points of damage and I regain the same amount of Life Points that you lost!"

Yuushi could not believe what he heard knowing that in Koji's graveyard, there were now seven Fiend-Type monsters after detaching that Overlay Unit, "What the...you're saying that you can shift the balance of Life Points that much with just one effect?!"

Without warning, a flash of light blasted through the room. It took far less than a second to achieve and could be missed by just blinking but a black aura was around Yuushi in that time as he suddenly lost all the energy in his body momentarily and fell face-down. The black aura vanished around Yuushi and reappeared around Koji and Sovereign while Yuushi struggled to get back up.

Yuushi- 1200 LP  
>Koji- 2800 LP<p>

"There's another effect! Sovereign now gains ATK and DEF equal to the amount of Life Points that you just lost!"

"That's...", Yuushi started to say as he was taken aback with that another effect.

Before anything else happened, Sovereign thrust out its arms and roared to the blackened skies as the ground of the citadel started to shatter and debris was flying. The black aura intensified and followed the motion of the demon as it formed a coating and then was no longer visible (Sovereign ATK: 1700+1400= 3100 ATK, DEF: 700+1400= 2100 DEF).

Koji quickly looked at his opponent, "You said you would try to stop me, to stop this destiny of mine! Then I'll end my turn and see how you will try!"

Yuushi slowly stepped forward again and looked at that monster, _"With effects like that, I can't let it stay on the field! I have to eliminate it now!"_

"My turn, draw!"

With a swift motion, Yuushi looked at the lone card in his hand which was now his whole hand as well, "Now it's my turn to go on the attack! I use both my Field Spell and Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode's effect! I remove two Spell Counters from the citadel to use my monster's effect to destroy every card on your field! Shining Starfall!"

The opponent was clearly not happy about the effect as Koji scowled to himself. The central tower of the citadel reacted to Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode's power as bright lights could be seen in the dark sky (Citadel SC: 3-2= 1). Several white-magenta projectiles were descending from above leaving a magenta trail of light in its path. It did not take long for the projectiles to crash onto Koji's side of the battlefield leaving behind craters and shockwaves with every impact as the explosions consumed his side of the field in smoke and debris.

Hopefully for Yuushi, he could attack for the win but all he heard was mocking laughter from Koji as the smoke began to clear. He could still see dark purple Overlay Units which were a bad sign but then it was confirmed as Dark Emperor – Sovereign was still on the field and still having all its stats intact as if nothing had happened.

The high school student gasped to himself as Koji filled in some details, "That effect is powerless before Sovereign because I activate Sovereign's own effect! By banishing two Fiend-Type monsters in my graveyard when this card would leave the field by effects, it continues its reign as emperor of all!"

"_Is this a joke or something? That monster has great innate protection since it can't be destroyed in battle and can save itself from leaving the field several times as a precaution. Even worse, it can drain my Life Points to strengthen itself every turn and I can't recover Life Points to stay in this duel," _Yuushi thought to himself while trying not to show any signs of frustration.

After thinking about Sovereign, the boy tried to come up with a strategy, _"He just banished Dark Soldier – Doomed Herald and Dark Soldier – Raging Seven so the next time he uses Sovereign's effect, it won't be as powerful. Even if I use its effect, Koji will banish two more Fiends to keep Sovereign but I'll lose both Spell Counters on my monster in the process..."._

The next move was the critical moment in the duel as Yuushi knew that he could deal some good damage this turn if he wanted though he would have to go completely all-out. It was a mentally strenuous decision but after a long moment of deep and careful thinking Yuushi decided on his next move. It was not something he wanted to do but it would minimize the damage he would take while allowing him to go on the offensive at the same time.

Koji spoke out, "How stupid you must feel now after seeing my monster's effects in action!"

"I switch my Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode to Defense Position!," Yuushi continued while ignoring him.

Moving its staff outward and its body back, a blue circle of magic runes formed in front of Yuushi's monster as it prepared to intercept any incoming attacks (DEF: 2300).

"Are you hesitating now? Don't tell me that you're only good at defending and cowering behind your weak monster!", Koji taunted.

Yuushi wanted to argue back but it would throw off his game as he took a deep breath, "You can say whatever you want but I'll use my Arcanite Magician's effect again. Even in Assault Mode, I can use it as many times as I want so your field is going to get wiped out again!"

Even from its defensive position, Arcanite Magician could still call upon the power of the stars as the green gems on its staff and armor lit up to focus magical power (AM/AM ATK: 3700-2000= 1700 ATK, SC: 2-2= 0). It did not take long for the white-magenta stars to crash down onto Koji's side of the battlefield again as it was levelled even further. As the smoke cleared, once again Dark Emperor – Sovereign was unphased as it still stood defiantly. On Koji's side of the field, he had banished both of the Dark Soldier – Inferno Wardens in his graveyard to activate his monster's own defensive effect.

"My Sovereign is beyond your grasp. Because of its Immortality effect, even if its supposed to leave the field, it will never go as long as I have Fiends to banish in its place! By putting your only hope in DEF mode, you have sealed your own fate!"

"Save it! As long as I can still duel, as long as I have Life Points remaining, I won't give up!", Yuushi yelled back while he made a move towards his last set card, "On the field, I activate my Continuous Trap, Pitch-Black Power Stone!"

The card was revealed and floating above the card was a yellow triangular device with a hole in the center and three curved markings around it (Power Stone SC: 3). It was contained within a black sphere of magic but it still was leaking out magical power as Yuushi activated its effect.

"This card starts off with three Spell Counters and I can transfer one over to another card once per turn like my Field Spell."

Now glowing white, the device activated and transferred the overflow of magical power to the Magical Citadel of Endymion. Similar to any other time, the magical power was absorbed by the citadel to power itself as the bottom part of the tower had active glyphs and markings surging through it (Citadel SC: 1+1= 2, Power Stone SC: 3-1= 2).

After taking in that last big move, a card materialized onto Yuushi's field, "I end my turn and set this card down."

It still took a while but Yuushi had some second thoughts about his last turn. Nonetheless, the turn was already completed and he could not do anything about it now as he went over that move in his head, _"I could have increased Arcanite Magician's ATK to 5700 which would deal 2600 damage in a battle which is still 200 less than I needed to end all this. Unless Koji has a piercing card or something, I shouldn't lose Life Points in a battle this turn." _

His opponent was also puzzled at Yuushi's last turn but was about to start his own turn.

There was still a second component that Yuushi went over, _"Last turn was pretty much a trade-off between dealing damage, taking it in return and stalling. If Koji had a devastating counter-attack in his hand, it would have been very tough to recover from if I went all-out. The thing I have to work around though is the Immortal Power effect. If it were me at the start of the year, I'd just panic, shut down and play it safe...but right now, I'm only playing it safe to break through and end this duel. Koji did have one point that I agree on. It's not the time to hide, it's the time to fight. I have an answer this turn but if I kept stalling, I'd run out of moves so now I have to end it before he ends me."_

"My turn!", he heard from the other side as the leader of Nightfall drew a card.

Koji glanced at the card, "I'm activating a Continuous Spell from my hand, Skull of Devil Lord!"

Above the card, Yuushi was surprised to see a humanoid skull since it was suppose to be the Skull of Devil Lord. Nevertheless, the skull emitted a threatening amount of strange arcane power that was absorbed into Dark Emperor – Sovereign's body as a dark purple coat of energy dissipated.

"Consider yourself lucky that you got to see one of the Underworld's most prized artifacts before being destroyed. Now any effect damage done by a 'Dark Lord' or 'Dark Emperor' can deal another 500 points of damage on top of the amount it would deal normally," Koji confidently explained.

There was another source that began to collect power from the skull as well. The magical energy on the Magical Citadel of Endymion covered the bottom half of the tower as the structure began to light up the darkened battlefield (Citadel SC: 2+1= 3).

The black haired duelist did not like the sound of that effect, _"Not only does that let him deal more damage but it allows him to drain even more Life Points and convert it to more ATK and DEF points. At this rate, he'll have four monsters in the graveyard after using his effect for 800 and another 500 on top means...oh no!"_

As if Koji read his mind, he shouted, "You've lost the duel! I activate Sovereign's effect! By using an Overlay Unit, you'll take a total of 1300 points of damage thanks to Skull of Devil Lord!"

This time, the Overlay Unit of Dark Lord – Black Scourge, was absorbed into Sovereign's armor who raised one of its fists up ready to drain Yuushi of his final amount of Life Points. In response, Arcanite Magician raised up its staff from a defensive position. A flash of light blinked for an instant when suddenly, a second flash of light from Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode's staff triggered as the staff was now lit up with green magical energy. Koji widened his eyes and in his excitement, he did not notice it until now but Yuushi had activated a Trap Card when Sovereign's effect was announced.

"This Trap Card only works with 'Assault Mode' monsters! Like it suggests, Assault Counter can counter the activation of Spell, Trap or Monster Effects and then release a blast that can destroy that card in return!"

Electrical power build up around Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode while it concentrated onto the shining staff and with a swift downward swing, a lightning bolt shot out. The counter-attack ran into Sovereign triggering an earth-shaking explosion as the duelists managed to hold their footing during the tremor. The smoke quickly cleared and Dark Emperor – Sovereign was still on the field though both Yuushi and Koji did not expect any different. This scenario was the third repeat except this time, Koji banished Dark Soldier – Delusion Fiend and Dark Soldier – Evil Fist for Sovereign's protection.

"Useless! Did you really think that the rate of your destruction could really measure up to the speed of my creation?!", Koji boldly challenged as Yuushi stayed silent before he spoke up again, "It's over! Your Arcanite Magician will be crushed by my monster's own fist of destruction! Now, strike that monster down with Eclipse Rage!"

The demon had let out a deep howl with a now dark purple-black aura before teleporting in front of Arcanite Magician who did not have any time to react as a flaming fist went straight through Yuushi's monster sending him flying backwards as the dark flames engulfed the Spellcaster who disappeared into particles of light.

Despite not losing any Life Points, Yuushi's own monster was off the field as Koji chuckled, "That was easier than I thought. Next turn, Sovereign will..."

The reason that Koji stopped mid-sentence was that the particles of light led the way for a green circle of magic to form before Arcanite Magician in its usual light blue attire flew out of the circle and landed in front of Yuushi (ATK: 400+800= 1200 ATK, Level 7).

"That monster just got killed so it should be in the graveyard now!", Koji angrily shouted.

"For someone who has a card that's so resistant to being destroyed, you sure sound surprised when someone else has an effect like that too. Arcanite Magician in its base form is back because when Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode is destroyed, I can Special Summon it back from my graveyard. However, it doesn't gain any Spell Counters since it was not Synchro Summoned to my field though it still gets a boost from Solidarity."

"_Once again its destruction against creation. Two sides of the same coin. Arcanite Magician specializes in mass destruction while Koji's monster seems to specialize in creating its own life after death,"_ Yuushi thought after observing both monsters facing off against each other again.

Looking at the cards in his hand, Koji reluctantly stated, "...I'm going to end my turn!"

Yuushi noted that pause, _"He probably has something up his sleeve but with Spell Counters on the field, I can destroy anything on his side of the field and I doubt all his cards are this resistant to Arcanite Magician's effect. If he plays a Spell, he'll just give me more Spell Counters to work with but I still have to keep my guard up."_

With his hand on his deck, Yuushi drew a card, "It's my move!"

He added the card to his deck, "Koji! I might not have the strength to slay your Dark Emperor – Sovereign but my Arcanite Magician will do it as many times as it has to! No matter how many times it comes back, I'll keep attacking...for my friends and the duelists in Heartland City that Nightfall has ravaged!"

The Pitch-Black Power Stone began to glow as magical energy radiated from the device and was collected into Arcanite Magician's green staff. This allowed Yuushi's monster to gain some power as its strength increased accordingly (Arcanite ATK: 1200+1000= 2200 ATK, SC: 0+1= 1, Power Stone SC: 2-1= 1).

"Not only that but I'll banish Foresight Magician in my graveyard to add another Spell Counter to my Spellcaster-Type monster!"

The gathering of energy was not finished yet as blue drops of light materialized and was quickly drawn into Arcanite Magician's staff as the monster now had the same amount of power it would have if it was Synchro Summoned (Arcanite ATK: 2200+1000= 3200 ATK, SC: 1+1= 2).

With that power-up, Arcanite Magician had more ATK than Sovereign for the time but Yuushi was not looking for a battle. The black-haired duelist pointed to Sovereign and declared, "Here I go! I activate Arcanite Magician's effect and use Magical Citadel of Endymion to pay for its Spell Counter cost! Target Dark Emperor – Sovereign!"

The citadel itself began to glow as it lost magical power causing some of the lights and runes on the tower to disappear as less than half of the tower was active now (Citadel SC: 3-1= 2).Two green waves of energy were shot out from the glowing green staff as the two projectiles sliced right through Sovereign. However, the opposing monster only fell to one knee before getting back up again. Looking at Koji's graveyard, Dark Soldier – Reaper Chain and Dark Lord – Black Scourge were banished as a result.

Now, the cloaked figure was shocked and Yuushi knew why since this is what he was aiming for. There were now no Fiend-Type monsters in Koji's graveyard meaning that his monster could be removed from the field using effects and he had the perfect one for the job.

"I activate Arcanite Magician's effect again except this time, my monster will pay the Spell Counter cost itself! With no monsters left to protect Sovereign, it's now going to get wiped off the field! Go, Pulsar Wave!"

"No...it can't be!", Koji screamed out.

With another two swings (Arcanite SC: 2-1= 1 SC, ATK: 3200-1000= 2200 ATK), the same two green crescent waves were shot out and again went straight through Sovereign except this time the Dark Emperor let out a vicious howl of pain as Koji's monster exploded. Yuushi let out a sigh of relief as Sovereign was finally off the field.

The duel was not over yet as Yuushi moved onto the Battle Phase, "Here we go, Arcanite Magician attacks you directly!"

Yuushi's Spellcaster spun its staff which left behind a green trail of light as the Spellcaster lined up the staff with its target. After charging for a second, a powerful blue-green blast was shot out from the staff as the beam travelled to Koji and exploded on impact. The dark blue-haired male cried out as he was sent sliding backwards on his back leaving a trail of dust.

Yuushi- 1200 LP  
>Koji- 600 LP<p>

There was still Skull of Devil Lord on Koji's side of the field. Looking at the card in his hand, Yuushi decided against destroying that card as well and opted to keep his monster's ATK at a higher value.

"I set this card down and end my turn!"

Koji had the wind knocked out of him but he slowly got up and had a grin on his face, "Then I guess the time has come for me to end this once and for all."

The black-haired boy was not exactly phased by that threat, "You have no cards except that skull of yours and it can't really use its effect right now anyways."

The opponent drew his card and looked at it before laughing maniacally in a slowly increasing tone, "Hahahaha! Just what I needed! But first I'll use the other card in my hand, Underworld Slate! This Spell Card revives a 'Dark Lord' or 'Dark Emperor' monster from my graveyard but it can't attack, has its effects negated and will be banished at the end of my turn!

A large piece of black stone rose from the card before the stone turned completely black and transformed into a dark spiral portal leading to another dimension as a figure with blank white-green eyes could be seen inside.

"Revive! Dark Emperor – Sovereign!"

Hearing its call, the armored demon appeared onto the battlefield once more. A bolt of lightning struck down from the dark skies above the citadel as the monster made its presence known once again. Both duelists were weakened from their duel so far but it seemed as if the same monsters were back for another round (ATK: 1700, Rank 7, OU: 0).

The central tower of the citadel began to glow as Yuushi knew that was because of the citadel's effect using the magical energy from Underworld Slate. Since another Spell Card was activated, another Spell Counter was added onto his Field Spell. Once more, the central tower was lit up around half-way which showed everyone exactly how much magical power was stored inside (Citadel SC: 2+1= 3).

Back to the battlefield, Yuushi was somewhat confused by his opponent's play. "What good is that card now? Its ATK is lower than my monster and your monster does not have its effects anymore since Underworld Slate revived it! Even if it did have its effects, there are no Fiend-Type monsters in the graveyard anymore to power it up or protect it. You banished every last one of them last time!", Yuushi told his opponent.

Suddenly, the Spellcaster duelist realized something. Koji could not have possibly misplayed that badly and he might used that card for a different reason.

Koji confirmed it all, "While what you said is all true, you haven't seen the whole story yet. It's not over! It's not the end yet! Nobody will take my destiny away from me!"

"What do you mean...?", Yuushi questioned as he could feel something otherworldly approaching.

Above the duel, the black sky began to twist and contort forming a strange red spiral of clouds in the sky. This supernatural phenomenon caught Yuushi's eye as he had never seen anything like that before. A sudden foreboding wind picked up as even Arcanite Magician was caught up by a sudden force coming from the Dark Emperor.

"Your Arcanite Magician did surprise me with its Assault Mode form...but don't let it get to your head! Let me return the favor by showing you a little change of my own! A final parting gift so say goodbye forever! I use an Xyz Change!"

With those words, Yuushi did not know what to expect. Part of him wanted to see what would happen but if this was something that Koji saved until now, it was probably an ace in the hole to use at the last moment to cause an extreme reversal in the flow of the match. He had never heard of an Xyz Change before but he had a feeling he would find out soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Dark Soldier – Raging Seven

Level 7

Dark Attribute

Fiend/Effect

ATK: 2100, DEF: 700

If you have 7 or more Dark Attribute monsters in your graveyard, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.

Dark Emperor – Sovereign

Rank 7

Dark Attribute

Fiend/Xyz/Effect

ATK: 1700, DEF: 700

2 Level 7 Fiend-Type monsters

This Attack Position card cannot be destroyed by battle. If this card would leave the field by card effects, you can banish 2 Fiend-Type monsters from your graveyard instead. Your opponent cannot gain Life Points. Once per turn, you can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card to inflict 200 damage to your opponent for each Fiend-Type monster in your graveyard. You gain Life Points equal to the amount of damage inflicted by that effect and this card gains ATK and DEF equal to the amount of damage inflicted by that effect.

Skull of Devil Lord

Continuous Spell Card

Each time your opponent would take damage from the effect of a "Dark Lord" or "Dark Emperor" monster you control, increase that effect damage by 500.

Underworld Slate

Spell Card

Target 1 "Dark Lord" or "Dark Emperor" monster in your graveyard and Special Summon it. Its effects are negated and it cannot attack. Banish it during the End Phase.

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><p><strong>Chapter 33 Preview<strong>

Yuushi: I thought that Dark Emperor – Sovereign was gone but now it's back and stronger than ever. Koji's strongest monster has finally appeared.

Yuushi: I can't give up now. I can't give the future of duelists to Nightfall! There has to be something I can do.

Yuushi: What's this...? This card is a miracle created with the hopes and spirits of the friends who have battled with me. Chapter 33: A World's Burden. This is the single shot that will decide our futures!


	34. Chapter 33: A World's Burden

Above the duel, lightning and thunder rumbled with the dark sky seemingly splitting due to a red light. Yuushi had never seen or read anything like this event as he opened his eyes in shock. The Magical Citadel of Endymion was still intact but even the light from the buildings paled in comparison to the mysterious phenomenon above. Arcanite Magician braced itself as Yuushi did so as well while he looked over the cards other than the two monsters. Yuushi had his face-down, Solidarity and Pitch-Black Power Stone while Koji had Skull of Devil Lord on his side as the artifacts themselves started to shake from the event in the sky. The dark blue haired duelist suddenly screamed out as he was covered in a similar red aura matching the light in the sky.

Yuushi- 1200 LP  
>Koji- 600 LP<p>

"_What the hell's going on?!"_ Yuushi exclaimed to himself.

Koji pointed upwards, "Dark Emperor – Sovereign will be its own Overlay Unit for the Xyz Change!"

Yuushi was completely caught off guard and almost speechless, "Its Overlay Unit, wait...how...for what?!"

"Behold! Sovereign's other form!", the leader of Nightfall called out ignoring Yuushi in the process.

Koji's armored monster roared with a ring of dark purple flames exploding out causing Yuushi to defend himself from the initial burst. Though his arm was slightly singed, the flames subsided as Sovereign was now just a dark purple flame. Yuushi could see white eyes inside the flame which startled him as the dark purple flame shot upward into the red vortex. Like an ordinary Xyz Summon, the vortex exploded out but Yuushi knew that this was anything but ordinary.

"Boundless souls who cry out to the black abyss! Rejoice and awe at he who answers! Draw forth the ultimate power, Dark Emperor – Terror Sovereign!"

It did not take long for another figure to descend down towards the battlefield. This figure was easily the most humanoid appearing monster that Koji had shown thus far. The figure had brown-purple skin with darker brown-purple sleeveless upper armor. Dark red and purple leg armor covered the new monster's bottom half. As the monster finally descended, Yuushi caught a glimpse into its blank white eyes and though the monster did not seem that imposing, the black haired duelist readjusted his glasses and prepared for a vicious assault (ATK: 3200, Rank 7, OU: 1).

The lone dark purple Overlay Unit circled around Koji's newest monster but Yuushi knew that based off the name, this card was a variation or evolution of Dark Emperor – Sovereign. It was initially difficult for Yuushi to take down Sovereign last time but the situation was different now.

"So that's an Xyz Change? But it doesn't change the fact that you have no Fiend-Type monsters in the graveyard to activate your effects!", the Spellcaster duelist countered.

On the other hand, his opponent chuckled, "Did you really think that would stop me?! First, this monster also can't be destroyed in battle in Attack Mode and you cannot gain Life Points. Onto the main part though, I activate another of Terror Sovereign's effects. Xyz Change gives my monster similar yet very different effects. I consider Sovereign the defensive form which makes Terror Sovereign the more offensive oriented form!"

Yuushi did not like the sound of that, _"You considered that defensive?!"_

Something strange was happening though as Terror Sovereign began to focus and formed a black sphere near the monster's chest. The sphere rapidly expanded outward and covered the battlefield but not the citadel. From a spectator's point of view, it would appear as if there was some completely black dome in the center of the Magical Citadel of Endymion. The inside was quite different though as Yuushi could see stars and galaxies inside with space flares and novas around the area. However, the area was not outer space as Yuushi could still breath and both duelists did not just float about aimlessly but this was definitely not a good sign as Terror Sovereign's hand reached out.

"Now I activate Terror Sovereign's ultimate effect! When I have less than 1000 Life Points, I detach an Overlay Unit to banish a card you control and deal 200 points of damage for each Fiend-Type monster that has already been banished and gain the same amount of Life Points!", Koji shouted out victoriously.

"That's means...," Yuushi began to say as he remembered all eight of Koji's banished Fiend-Type monsters.

Koji was cackling, "My destiny is but a single move away! Take this! A fool's reward for challenging Nightfall! Banish Arcanite Magician now!"

Terror Sovereign began to raise its hand with its Overlay Unit going right into its fist and disappearing. With a powerful glow in this vast expanse, Arcanite Magician's body began rising upwards uncontrollably after the Overlay Unit was absorbed. Yuushi's monster tried to struggle out but some invisible force had the Spellcaster completely under its power. A black and dark purple void formed around Arcanite Magician as Koji's mocking laugh echoed throughout. The raised hand suddenly gripped into a fist as the void imploded and released a brilliant yet blinding flash of light.

"So how was that?! Now...What?! No!"

A figure could be seen on Yuushi's side of the field as Koji stopped talking and screamed with shock. The ace Spellcaster was still standing and still determined to continue though there was a card behind Arcanite Magician that was revealed. The image on the card was a warrior with metal armor shielding himself from a frontal blast of yellow lightning.

"Since you would inflict damage with that effect, Damage Polarizer negates that effect and its activation. However, we both get to draw a single card afterwards," Yuushi explained.

Both duelists drew their card but Koji was less than happy with the overall results despite having an extra card in his hand now.

"Fine then! It's time to show you which of our monsters deserves to stand on the field! Terror Sovereign, attack Arcanite Magician!"

As he ordered, the Xyz Monster roared and released a powerful, visible aura that shook the ground. Black lightning surrounded Terror Sovereign and before Yuushi even realized, a violent quake followed by a shockwave erupted from Arcanite Magician before the Synchro Monster was engulfed in black flames and lightning. The shockwave knocked Yuushi off his feet as the lightning shot out towards him. After realizing that Terror Sovereign had a black aura fist, Yuushi realized that his monster was punched so violently and quickly that the shockwave, lightning and tremors were merely just the aftereffects. He screamed as his body was thrown backwards onto his side falling on his arm while Koji laughed triumphantly having the only monster left on the field.

Yuushi- 200 LP  
>Koji- 600 LP<p>

As Yuushi got up, a numbing pain went up his right arm around his elbow as he recalled that he landed on that arm. Though his arm wasn't broken, it was likely sprained though now was definitely not the time to think about stuff like that.

With Arcanite Magician off the field, the Nightfall duelist grabbed the last two cards in his hand, "I set two cards and end my turn."

Unknown face-down cards appeared behind Terror Sovereign as Koji spoke, "Come on! Start your last turn now! It's only a matter of time before you fall here and are buried along with your foolish friends with such low Life Points! Then I shall save our world by destroying that false Spirit World which dares intrude on us!"

"_He's right. The card in my hand helps but alone it won't do much good. With so much riding on this next draw, I can only hope and believe that my deck won't let me down. There's been so much I've been through with my friends, parents and those in the city and even my deck...not just for me, but for the bonds between all of us..."_

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><p>Waiting at a door, Ryoko could sense something as she knew that her friends were in trouble. Though Hikaru told her to stay by the exit, she could be with them in spirit, <em>"Everyone...don't mess this up!"<em>

The blue-black haired Hikaru was making his way down some stairs as he had a similar feeling of worry, _"Come on, I know you guys can do it!"_

Lastly, Ayumi was running frantically through the bottom floor looking for signs of her best friend, _"Yuushi...he's here somewhere...I'll be there for him no matter what!"_

* * *

><p>Yuushi looked at his graveyard and knew that even though his deck led him here, he would settle this himself one way or another. Then without warning, Yuushi's graveyard began to glow as he could sense Arcanite Magician reaching out to him. He suddenly had a strange sensation as he felt the hopes of his friends and though he could not explain why, he received a surge of confidence despite the massive disadvantage he was currently in.<p>

A burst of light radiated from Yuushi's deck as even Koji took notice and shouted, "What...what's going on?!"

Even Yuushi wasn't quite sure but now was his chance as he grabbed the now golden card, "My turn!"

With a swipe, he looked at the card and it was one that he had never seen before. For now though, he grabbed the other card in his hand, "I activate Assault Revival! By banishing 'Assault Mode Activate' from my graveyard, I can Special Summon an '/Assault Mode' monster from the graveyard but it cannot be tributed and has its effects negated!"

A green-blue ball of light spawned above the battlefield with a growing white light in the center. White rays of light exploded outwards as Yuushi's Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode appeared in a coat of white light as the monster landed on the ground. Though the monster still had its red and purple armor intact along with its staff, the aura of magic it normally carried was not present as evident with dull green gems that have lost their radiance. Regardless, the effect of Solidarity was still working as Yuushi's revived monster benefited from its effects (ATK: 900+800= 1700 ATK, Level 9).

The Magical Citadel of Endymion received the remnants of energy from Yuushi's Spell Card as the energy climbed up to around two-thirds of the tower and lit up the central rim located above the half-way point (Citadel SC: 3+1= 4).

"Ironic isn't it? Now your monster is the one with no effect! What was the point of that?!", Koji shouted.

Yuushi looked at the card he just drew, "That's why I'll activate this card from my hand, Anima Mundi! Thanks to this Spell Card's effect, all five Spell Counters are removed from the field and for each Spell Counter removed, a Spellcaster monster on my field gains 1000 ATK for each one this turn!"

Koji's eyes widened, "What did you just say?!"

A flare of light illuminated the dark skies as a white beacon shined down on the battlefield. In response, particles of shining light appeared all around the battlefield from sources such as the buildings in the citadel, the magical environment in the air and ground, the central tower, the surrounding areas and even the monsters themselves. The two most dominant sources of power were from the central tower of the citadel as well as Yuushi's Pitch-Black Power Stone still on the field. Arcanite Magician raised up its staff and drew in all the particles of light as Yuushi's monster powered up and was now completely white-golden in color from head to toe (Arcanite/AM ATK: 1700+5000= 6700 ATK) (Power Stone SC: 1-1= 0) (Citadel SC: 4-4= 0).

The central tower of the citadel was completely drained of all its energy and had no power to sustain itself at all. Similarly, the device inside the black void of Pitch-Black Power Stone lost all its luster as the void collapsed in on itself as there was no magical power to sustain it. However, Anima Mundi was a Spell Card itself which meant that the central tower began to recharge itself as a faint amount of energy was sent inside the Field Spell (Citadel SC: 0+1= 1)

However, the opponent yelled, "I don't care how much ATK you have! I dare you to attack me!"

Yet, there was still something else as Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode prepared to cast a spell of some sort as Yuushi went into detail, "There's one other effect of Anima Mundi which activates if I have removed five or more Spell Counters from the field! Now I can target and destroy two cards on the field and I choose your two face-down set cards!"

Yuushi's reason for that was to eliminate any potential surprises as Koji was even more furious now. The two set cards were Hate Buster and another Demonic Vortex. The first Trap Card only can be used when a Fiend-Type monster is attacked and would automatically destroy both monsters and deal damage to the opponent equal to the opposing monster's ATK value. Demonic Vortex could be used in this scenario to give Terror Sovereign another 800 ATK but that would only bring Koji's monster to 4000 ATK.

Even with that boost, the end result would be the same but Koji still did not give up on his destiny, "This isn't over! Not yet! It can't be over! I activate Demonic Vortex so now my monster gains 800 ATK and cannot be destroy by card effects until my next End Phase!"

An otherworldly black gale of red and black wind surrounded Terror Sovereign who stomped downward and shook the whole citadel with its new power. The winds even punched holes into the nearby buildings before speeding up and now even began to shave off the surface of the ground (ATK: 3200+800= 4000 ATK).

The black-haired Yuushi stood his ground through the violent storm as Arcanite Magician finished casting its spell. Without warning, the two cards Yuushi originally targeted began to light up in a white light before fading away and vanishing into particles of light themselves.

There was one thing left for Yuushi to do as he quickly announced a battle, "Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode! Finish this whole thing off once and for all! Attack Terror Sovereign! Satellite Resonance!"

Forming a white-golden sphere of immense magical power, Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode shot out the sphere into the dark sky which exploded and showered rays of light down on Terror Sovereign. The Fiend-Type monster charged forward to meet the attack and the violent storm seemingly followed as well. The rays cut through the winds as the storm was stopped dead with the end result being that Terror Sovereign was pierced through by the barrage and exploded. Koji was blasted back almost across the room as his body crashed and bounced along the ground. Yuushi was blasted backwards himself but managed to regain his footing as he fell to one knee in pain and exhaustion.

Yuushi- 200 LP - WIN  
>Koji- 0 LP<p>

The Augmented Reality Vision went away bringing the duelists back to Nightfall's base and inside that room with the large cannon device at the back. The lightning and surges from the device seemed to have faded but now there was a constant whirring, vibratory sound that shook the room which came from the cannon. Though the gruelling duel was over, there was something else still as Yuushi limped his way past Koji towards the cannon as flashes of light kept triggering from the cannon.

As he made his way over, he saw a wire connected to Koji's Duel Disk but that did not seem to be active right now as he accessed a screen and tried to take a look at what was really happening. There were graphs, charts and numbers spiking up and down along with red flashes and noises. Yuushi could tell something was hitting a critical zone if the loud beeping was any indication. Bringing up other screens, Yuushi could only tell that a critical, unnatural and certainly dangerous amount of energy was being harnessed and targeted at some location that was through a void of some sort. This was not really new information as Yuushi tried to shut the device down but he kept getting errors and denied access.

"Yuushi! Where are you?!"

Suddenly, he heard a female voice that he recognized as Ayumi made her way into the battered room.

"Over here! But just watch out!", Yuushi warned his friend.

She made her way past Koji as well as she too was panting lightly, "I'm so happy you're alright. So other than this device, it's all over right?"

"I beat Koji but this cannon device is aimed at the Spirit World I think and he's probably planning to destroy that whole world with this thing! I have no idea what's going on even with access to this device", Yuushi frantically shouted trying to bring Ayumi up to speed on the current situation.

Ayumi connected a black wire from her D-Pad into the cannon device, "Let me try!"

The girl was now looking over all the data as her eyes shifted rapidly from one screen to another trying to analyze the output data. Overhearing them, the defeated Koji chuckled weakly on the ground, "It's almost time. You've sealed your fates! Nightfall is not finished yet...there's no time for you to stop this and even so, we still have a legacy that lives on! Not only that but now I guess you are the one who made it out of the Trial of the Two intact. At least I won't be the one to carry a world's burden! Hahahaha...!"

While Koji was chuckling, he fell unconscious due to the damage he took during the duel. Even with Koji down, that last warning really got Yuushi thinking and caused him to lose focus on his current goal. A searing numbness shot up through Yuushi's arm from earlier in the duel as his face showed the pain he was trying to hide. Instinctively, he held his arm but that just made Ayumi worry not only about Koji's words but about Yuushi's condition.

The girl was concerned, "Yuushi, what happened to your arm?"

"It's fine. More importantly though, did you find anything?", Yuushi stated back.

"I do have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the cannon's point of impact, trajectory and gathered energy suggest that Heartland City is not the target...," Ayumi answered.

This relieved Yuushi as he now knew that his hometown was not in any direct damage at the moment but there was still a grim look on Ayumi's face as she frantically disconnected the black wire.

She continued, "...but we have to get out of here right now! The readings say that the shockwave that this blast will make will destroy this whole room and destabilize the base. The whole building might even come down!"

Lightning began to shoot out from the machine again as Yuushi nodded and the duo began to run back. They passed Koji's unconscious body and while Yuushi did feel a bit guilty for leaving him here, he knew that himself and Ayumi could not possibly carry him and make it out in time. As much as he did not want to, Yuushi had no choice as the two ran out of the room. They ran past the long corridor and then past the room where Ayumi had a duel with Jun until they turned the corner. Basically, they were just going in the reverse direction they came from in order to try to reach the upper levels of the base.

They saw a figure up ahead and after a few moments of sprinting, they knew it was Hikaru on his way to find them.

"There you two are! What's...", Hikaru started to say.

They stopped to brief him on the situation, "We have to get out of here! This whole base might collapse in on us!"

Lights were now flickering on and off and there was a minor quake that everyone could feel. Hikaru and Ayumi maintained their balance but Yuushi ended up slamming into the wall though he quickly recovered.

Even Hikaru could see the bruises on the two, especially Yuushi, as he nodded, "You can explain what happened later. Getting buried here isn't how I imagined I'd go out. Ryoko is waiting at the exit. Follow me!"

Now the three of them with Hikaru in front found the stairway to get to the second floor from the bottom as they began to run up. This time though, they heard a loud explosion as the whole base started to shake followed by several other tremors. Everyone was knocked off their feet as they quickly got back up except this time, there seemed to be an unending end of minor tremors.

"That was probably the cannon being fired," the dark brown haired girl commented out loud.

After that, they made it up the second floor and kept running towards the stairwell to the first floor. The last step to escape would just be a matter of finding the exit and leaving. While making their way over, the ground began to crack and split apart as the majority of the lights were now destroyed. It was more difficult to see in the darkness but Yuushi activated a light on his D-Pad mirrored by the other two.

While running, Hikaru sighed, "This is ridiculous. Why would Nightfall have a device that destroys their own base afterwards?!"

Yuushi thought up a reason, "If this cannon really did destroy the Spirit World, then Nightfall would have no reason to exist anymore...that's what I think at least."

Looking at Yuushi puzzled, the blue-black hair male sighed even deeper, "There's a lot you have to fill me in on."

"Watch out for that hole!", Ayumi shouted.

Seeing the large hole leading down into a dark abyss which was likely the bottom floor, the trio went around the edge of the hole and slid along the side and continued forth. The ground shook violently once more but by this point everyone had adjusted to the quakes and maintained their standing. Up ahead was the stairwell to the top floor where they originally started off as the trio started to make their way up again. This time, the rails started to become loose from earlier shaking but the group quickly made their way past the stairs and opened the door to the top floor.

Looking around, everything seemed like a mess with even more frequent and larger holes not only in the ground but also in the walls. Cracks were evident as the infrastructure of the building was definitely weakening. An explosion triggered on the side as a black cloud of smoke blew past the group as Yuushi, Ayumi and Hikaru covered their mouths to avoid breathing in the smoke and dust.

"Pretty sure it's this way!," Hikaru said as he pointed to his left.

Yuushi started to run, _"Pretty sure? I wanted to hear 'I'm sure' at a time like this."_

Suddenly, the side wall in the passageway began to crack as it travelled up the roof and caused the ceiling to collapse and rain debris onto the ground in front sealing off that passageway.

Ayumi gasped, "No...now where do we go?"

They heard another familiar female voice shout out to them, "Hikaru did say he was looking for you two. After that last explosion, I knew things were getting bad and good thing I found you. Come on, this way!"

Taking a different path, the group eventually made it to the room that Shiho had told Hikaru about after their duel. The door seemed as ordinary but there were strange glowing red lines patterning the door. Ryoko quickly opened the door and the four of them ran in to find a room with red lines lining the floors and walls. At the back of the room was a large purple cylindrical device acting as a generator. At the back wall, there was a square platform with four pillars in total on each corner that also was infused with red lines.

"It's now or never!", Ryoko yelled out.

Though Yuushi wanted to study the technology and area a bit more, there really was no time. The devices and technology was unlike anything that he had seen around Heartland City which honestly fascinated him but the other three dashed forward and Yuushi soon joined them on the platform. They heard crackling before the red lines lit up the ground below their feet as they heard another crackle of energy before a green flash of light enveloped them.

* * *

><p>After that experience, the green flash disappeared and the next thing Yuushi knew, they were now outside surrounded by the same forest in the same clearing as before.<p>

"Is everyone alright?", Ayumi said looking around.

Hikaru wondered that as well, "Seems like it. We're not dead!"

Yuushi grinned, "Not exactly what I wanted to hear but I can't deny that I don't feel the same way."

"So is it over?", Ryoko muttered to the others.

"So Yuushi, I'd like an explanation on what happened exactly. That was some weird things that happened down...up...somewhere...wherever we were. What happened to Nightfall and where does Arcanite Magician fit into this? I just know that after my duel with Shiho, she left and told me where the exit was and then we communicated and I ran down to find you all before the whole building started to cave in," Hikaru stated while looking at his friend with the glasses.

Shocked, Ryoko interrupted, "We should probably get somewhere safer and look at those injuries before continuing."

"Probably but an explanation would be nice while every detail is still fresh. I owe you guys that much at least," Yuushi quickly added in before summarizing, "We left Hikaru with Shiho and then Ayumi and I met Jun who tried to stop us and then Ayumi won a duel against him and met up with me after I defeated Koji who was the leader of Nightfall. The goal of Nightfall was to gather a massive amount of energy from duelists and using that as a hypothesis, the Iron Curtain drained them during duels which is why duelists were in that coma-induced state."

The blue-black haired boy remarked, "Wait, so this destroyed the building because..."

"Nightfall wanted to destroy the Spirit World because they thought that there would be some invasion and that my Arcanite Magician and Koji's Terror Sovereign were scouts sent by some god or ruler to observe us," Yuushi explained.

The brown-red haired girl exclaimed, "What?! How did he come up with that conclusion?!"

Everyone looked at Yuushi strangely as he shook his head not knowing the answer himself. Ayumi tried to fill in what she knew, "So that's what the cannon was for I'm guessing. There was a device resembling a cannon in the room where Yuushi and Koji faced each other. It had a huge amount of stored power which eventually fired and the backlash ended up levelling the whole base which is why we had to run."

"So this Koji guy was crazy. I guess when we invaded his base, he just lost it," suggested Hikaru.

"I'm not so sure about that," Yuushi countered with disagreement.

Even Ayumi seemed skeptical and Ryoko questioned, "What do you mean?"

"I dueled him and he proved to be a very formidable and passionate person who believed really strongly in his cause. Based on the fervor and energy he showed, even if for different reasons, there has to be some legitimate reason behind it," Yuushi analyzed about his opponent before getting deep in thought, "The only thing that worried me were Koji's last words. He said that there would be a world's burden."

This time, Ayumi was also thinking out loud, "What about Nightfall's legacy? Before he was unconscious, he said something about that too! What about Arcanite Magician though? Anything happen with that card?"

Looking around, Yuushi showed everyone his Arcanite Magician card which everyone saw was glowing for a moment but fading back to a normal looking card. There was one other thing he had to check as he opened his D-Pad and the communication lines were open again. He began to make a call as his friends gathered around him.

"Are you calling your dad, Yuushi?", Ayumi asked.

"Yeah. He might have been worried after we disappeared like that. It would be nice to let him know we're here now and fine," the boy replied.

For now, it was over as Yuushi looked to his friends as they all smiled at him. No matter what questions were left, he knew that he was lucky to have such great friends as them. Even though there was still a lot they did not know about and even if Yuushi was now the primary individual involved, he had the support of his friends and family which would give him the strength to uncover all the mysteries that he was now caught up in. There was something bothering Yuushi though, almost as if there was something missing in the grand scheme of things. This something though was able to see him and was about to make itself known.

* * *

><p><strong>Original Cards<strong>

Dark Emperor – Terror Sovereign

Rank 7

Dark Attribute

Fiend/Xyz/Effect

ATK: 3200, DEF: 2400

3 Level 7 Dark Fiend-Type monsters

You can also Xyz Summon this card by using a "Dark Emperor – Sovereign" you control as an Overlay Unit (Overlay Units attached to that monster also becomes Overlay Units on this card). This Attack Position card cannot be destroyed by battle. Your opponent cannot gain Life Points. During your turn, if your Life Points are 1000 or less, you can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card to banish 1 card your opponent controls and inflict 200 damage to your opponent for each Fiend-Type monster that has been banished. You gain Life Points equal to the amount of damage inflicted by that effect.

Anima Mundi

Spell Card

Remove all Spell Counters on the field and target 1 face-up Spellcaster-Type monster you control. That monster gains 1000 ATK for each Spell Counter removed and apply this effect depending on the number of Spell Counters removed for this card's activation

2-4: Destroy 1 card on the field

5+: Destroy 2 cards on the field

* * *

><p><strong>YuGiOh ZeXal: Breakthrough II Preview<strong>

Yuushi: Everything seems back to normal as our break is now over. It's been a while but the second semester of classes will start.

Yuushi: Wait! That can't be right?! There's...there's real Duel Monsters attacking! What's going on?

Yuushi: Dad! What?! You have an explanation and it has to do with Arcanite Magician? Let's hear it then!

* * *

><p><strong>Note: Alright, that concludes YuGiOh ZeXal: Breakthrough which is like a Season 1. I planned for a Season 2 that would conclude everything and introduces more characters (some old and new). The base story has been thought out but things have been getting more busy for me. I will post a new fanfic called YuGiOh ZeXal: Breakthrough II if things aren't too hectic. Thanks to everyone for reading this fanfic and allowing me to write as long as I have.<strong>


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